The 2nd Duke of Grafton.
Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of
Grafton PC
(25 October 1683 – 6 May 1757) was an Irish
and English
politician.
He was born the only child of
Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of
Grafton and
Isabella Bennet, 2nd
Countess of Arlington. His father was an illegitimate son of
Charles II of England and
Barbara
Villiers, 1st Duchess of Cleveland.
Fitzroy inherited his father's peerages on 9 October 1690. He was
Lord High Steward at
King George I's coronation. He became a
Privy Counsellor in 1715
and a
Knight of the Garter in
1721. He also served as
Lord
Lieutenant of Ireland from 1720 to 1724 and
Lord Chamberlain from 1724 until his death.
In 1739 he supported the creation of what was to become one of
London's most notable charities, the
Foundling Hospital. He sat on that
charity's original Court of Governors with such fellow Governors as
the
Duke of
Bedford, the
Lord Vere and the
Lord Mayor of London.
He married Lady Henrietta Somerset, daughter of
Charles Somerset,
Marquess of Worcester and
Rebecca
Child; they had seven children:
Cork, 3rd Earl of Burlington]] and his wife Lady Dorothy Savile,
daughter of
William Savile, 2nd
Marquess of Halifax. The Earl was notorious for mistreating his
wife, who died seven months after their marriage, and died
childless.
The Duke also fathered an illegitimate son,
Charles FitzRoy-Scudamore.
References
- Leo van der Pas. George Fitzroy, Earl of Euston (1715-1747) from
Brigitte Gastel-Lloyd's Worldroots website. Retrieved in cached
version on 7 October 2009.
- R.H. Nichols and F A. Wray, The History of the Foundling
Hospital (London: Oxford University Press, 1935).
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