Fitzroy, Augustus, 3rd Duke of Grafton

Family

He was the son of Lord Augustus Fitzroy and Elizabeth Cosby, daughter of Colonel William Cosby, who served as governor of the New York colony. Augustus' father was the third son of the 2nd Duke of Grafton and Lady Henrietta Somerset, according to whom Fitzroy was the great-grandson of both the 1st Duke of Grafton and the Marquis of Worcester . Augustus was also a descendant of King Charles II and the 1st Duchess of Cleveland . His younger brother was 1st Baron Southampton . After the death of his uncle in 1747, he became Earl of Euston as the direct heir to his grandfather .

Lord Euston was educated at Westminster School and earned a degree at Peterhouse, Cambridge ..

January 29, 1756 , he married Anna Liddell ( 1737 - 1804 ), daughter of the 1st Baron Ravensworth . They had three children:

• Lady Georgiana FitzRoy ( May 8, 1757 - January 18, 1799 ), married John Smith ( February 12, 1748 - February 12, 1811 ) June 4, 1778 .
• George Henry Fitz Roy, 4th Duke of Grafton ( 1760 - 1844 )
• General Lord Charles FitzRoy ( July 14, 1764 - December 20, 1829 ), married for the first time to Francis Mundy ( 1773 - August 9, 1797 ) June 20, 1795 and had one son. He married a second time to Lady Francis Stewart ( June 24, 1777 - February 9, 1810 ) March 10, 1799 and had three children. His sons are Sir Charles FitzRoy ( 1796 - 1858 ), Governor of New South Wales, and Robert FitzRoy. They were known for their achievements.

The Duke and Duchess of Grafton divorced according to a parliamentary act in 1769 . On June 24, 1769, the Duke married a second time to Elizabeth Rotsley ( November 1, 1745 - May 25, 1822 ), daughter of Sir Richard Rotsley. They had the following children:

• Lord Henry FitzRoy ( April 9, 1770 - June 7, 1828 ), clergyman; he married Carolina Pigot (died January 1, 1835 ) on September 10, 1800 , had five children.
• Lady Augusta FitzRoy ( 1779 - June 29, 1839 ), married George Tavel (died 1829 ) on November 19, 1811 .
• Lady Francis FitzRoy ( June 1, 1780 - January 7, 1866 ), married Baron Churchill on November 25, 1801 .
• Admiral Lord William FitzRoy ( June 1, 1782 - May 13, 1857 ), who married Georgiana Raikes (died December 2, 1861 ) in 1816 and had two children with her.
• Lady Elizabeth FitzRoy (died March 13, 1839 ), who married her cousin Lieutenant General William FitzRoy ( 1773 - 1837 ), 1st Baron Southampton , July 4, 1811 .

In 1756, Augustus Fitzroy became a member of parliament from the "pocket town" of Borobridge. A few months later, he was elected to the House of Commons from Bury St Edmunds , which was run by his family. However, a year later his grandfather died, and Augustus became the 3rd Duke of Grafton and entered the House of Lords .

He became known as an adversary to Lord Butte , a favorite of King George III . Grafton entered into an alliance with the Duke of Newcastle against Butte, who was briefly prime minister .

In 1765, the Duke of Grafton was appointed Privy Councilor ; then he became secretary of the Northern Department in the first office of the Marquis of Rockingham . However, he left him the following year, and Pitt (by then Earl of Chetham) formed a ministry in which Grafton was the First Lord of the Treasury .

Chetam’s disease at the end of 1767 led to Grafton becoming the true leader of the government, but political strife and assault in the Letters of Junius led to his resignation in January 1770 . In 1768, the Duke of Grafton became Chancellor of the University of Cambridge . He became the Guardian Lord of the Small Seal in the office of Lord North ( 1771 ), but resigned in 1775 , being a supporter of a conciliatory policy towards the American colonies . In Rockingham’s second cabinet in 1782, Grafton was again the Guardian Lord of the Lesser Seal.

Grafton County in New Hampshire , USA , is named after him, as is Grafton in New South Wales , Australia .

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