Henry FitzRoy, 5th Duke Of Grafton

Henry FitzRoy, 5th Duke of Grafton (February 10, 1790 – March 26, 1863), was a British peer and politician. He held the titles of Viscount Ipswich until 1811, and Earl of Euston from 1811 until 1844.

Early Life

Henry FitzRoy was the eldest son in a family of eleven children born to George FitzRoy, 4th Duke of Grafton, and Lady Charlotte Maria Waldegrave. His paternal grandparents were Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton, and Anne Lidell. His maternal grandparents were James Waldegrave, 2nd Earl Waldegrave, and Maria Walpole, the illegitimate daughter of Sir Edward Walpole.

His siblings included Lady Mary Anne FitzRoy, who married Sir William Oglander, 6th Baronet; Lady Elizabeth Anne FitzRoy, who married their first cousin John Henry Smyth; Lord Charles FitzRoy, who married Lady Anne Cavendish, a daughter of the 1st Earl of Burlington; and Lady Isabella Frances FitzRoy, who married Henry Joseph St. John.

Career

Henry FitzRoy served as a Member of Parliament representing Bury St Edmunds as a Whig between 1818 and 1820, and again from 1826 to 1831. He also served as the MP for Thetford from 1834 to 1841.

Military Service

In his early years, he served as a Lieutenant in the 7th Light Dragoons, from which he retired on August 15, 1812. He was appointed Colonel of the East Suffolk Militia on September 23, 1823. Later, on May 24, 1830, he transferred to the colonelcy of the West Suffolk Militia, succeeding his father and grandfather who had previously commanded the regiment. He resigned from the militia in 1845, and his son, William, Earl of Euston, succeeded him briefly before being replaced within weeks.

Personal Life

On June 20, 1812, in Portugal, Henry FitzRoy married Mary Caroline Berkeley (1795–1873), daughter of Admiral Hon. Sir George Cranfield Berkeley. They had five children:

- Lady Mary Elizabeth Emily FitzRoy (1817–1887), who married Rev. Hon. Augustus Phipps, son of the Earl of Mulgrave.

- Lady Maria Louisa FitzRoy (1818–1912), who married Edward Douglas-Pennant, 1st Baron Penrhyn, and had issue.

- William Henry FitzRoy, 6th Duke of Grafton (1819–1882), who married Hon. Marie Anne Louise Baring, daughter of Francis Baring, 3rd Baron Ashburton, and Claire Hortense Maret.

- Augustus Charles Lennox FitzRoy, 7th Duke of Grafton (1821–1918), who married Anna Balfour, daughter of James Balfour, Member of Parliament.

- Lord Frederick John FitzRoy (1823–1919), a Member of Parliament for Thetford, who married Catherine Wescab and had issue.

Henry FitzRoy died in 1863 at Wakefield Lodge, near Potterspury, Northamptonshire, at the age of 73.