Charlotte FitzGerald-de Ros, 20th Baroness de Ros of Helmsley (24 May 1769 – 9 January 1831), also known as Lady Henry FitzGerald, was born Charlotte Boyle-Walsingham in

Castlemartyr Castlemartyr (, formerly anglicised as ''Ballymarter'' or ''Ballymartyr'') is a village in County Cork, Ireland. It is located 25 minutes east of Cork city, 10 km (6 mi) east of Midleton, 16 km (10 mi) west of Youghal and 6& ...

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

or in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, where she died. She was the daughter of the Hon. Robert Boyle, later Boyle-Walsingham (1736–1780) and wife (m. 1759) Charlotte Hanbury Williams (d. 1790), daughter of Sir

Charles Hanbury Williams Sir Charles Hanbury Williams, KB (8 December 1708 – 2 November 1759) was a Welsh diplomat, writer and satirist. He was a Member of Parliament from 1734 until his death. Early life Hanbury was the son of a Welsh ironmaster and Member of Parl ...

and Lady Frances Coningsby. Her paternal grandparents were

Henry Boyle, 1st Earl of Shannon Henry Boyle, 1st Earl of Shannon, PC (1682 – 28 December 1764), was an Anglo-Irish politician and peer who served as the speaker of the Irish House of Commons from 1733 to 1756. A prominent parliamentarian who sat for almost fifty years i ...

and his second wife Lady Henrietta Boyle. She spent most of her childhood with her parents at the

Boyle Farm Thames Ditton is a suburban village on the River Thames, in the Elmbridge borough of Surrey, England. Apart from a large inhabited island in the river, it lies on the southern bank, centred 12.2 miles (19.6 km) southwest of Charing Cro ...

mansion in

Thames Ditton Thames Ditton is a suburban village on the River Thames, in the Elmbridge borough of Surrey, England. Apart from a large inhabited island in the river, it lies on the southern bank, centred 12.2 miles (19.6 km) southwest of Charing Cross ...

. (Her mother, the second daughter of Frances Coningsby, had bought this estate in 1784 from Lord Hertford, who was grieving over the death of his wife there two years earlier.) Charlotte did much artistic decoration in Boyle Farm and much of it has survived to the present day. In London on 3/4 August 1791, more than a year after her mother's death, Charlotte married

Lord Henry FitzGerald Lord Henry FitzGerald PC (Ire) (30 July 1761 – 9 July 1829) was the fourth son of the 1st Duke of Leinster and the Duchess of Leinster (née Lady Emily Lennox). A younger brother was the revolutionary Lord Edward FitzGerald. Life Fitzgerald ...

, a member of the

Duke of Leinster Duke of Leinster (; ) is a title in the Peerage of Ireland and the premier dukedom in that peerage. The subsidiary titles of the Duke of Leinster are: Marquess of Kildare (1761), Earl of Kildare (1316), Earl of Offaly (1761), Viscount Leinster, ...

's family. After petitioning

King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

in 1790, she eventually (in 1806) was able to end the abeyance to the Barony of de Ros, the most ancient baronial title in England, in her favour — even though there were two other co-heirs to the barony, and she had only a quarter interest; another claimant, Sir Henry Hunloke, 4th Bt., had a half interest and was the heir general of the elder of the two sisters from whom the claims were derived. No clear explanation for the award was given by the House of Lords except an inference that Charlotte came from (or at least had married into) a better family.Lords' Journals, Vol. 45, Page 616; May 9, 1806
/ref> Charlotte legally changed her name by Royal Licence on 6 October of the same year to Charlotte FitzGerald-de Ros. Members of the de Ros family lived in Thames Ditton for a long while. They had links with the brightest of society, from the

Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister of ...

downwards. Henry's younger brother was the notorious

Lord Edward FitzGerald Lord Edward FitzGerald (15 October 1763 – 4 June 1798) was an Irish aristocrat who abandoned his prospects as a distinguished veteran of British service in the American War of Independence, and as an Irish Parliamentarian, to embrace the caus ...

. Charlotte died on 9 January 1831.

References

* * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:De Ros of Helmsley, Charlotte Fitzgerald-De Ros, 21st Baroness 21 1769 births 1831 deaths People from Thames Ditton History of Surrey Hereditary women peers Boyle family