Duke of Grafton is a title in the
Peerage of England
The Peerage of England comprises all peerages created in the Kingdom of England before the Act of Union in 1707. In that year, the Peerages of England and Scotland were replaced by one Peerage of Great Britain. There are five peerages in t ...
. It was created in 1675 by
Charles II of England
Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651, and King of England, Scotland and Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685.
Charles II was the eldest surviving child of ...
for
Henry FitzRoy, his second illegitimate son by the
Duchess of Cleveland. The most notable duke of Grafton was
Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton, who served as
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
from 1768–1770.
The Duke of Grafton holds three subsidiary titles, all created in 1675 in the peerage of England: Earl of Euston, Viscount Ipswich, and Baron Sudbury.
Between 1723 and 1936 the dukes, being descended from the 1st Duke's wife
Isabella FitzRoy, 2nd Countess of Arlington, also held the titles
Earl of Arlington
Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form '' jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particula ...
,
Viscount Thetford and
Baron Arlington
Baron Arlington is a title in the Peerage of England which was created, on 14 March 1665, for Sir Henry Bennet,Alan Marshall, ‘Bennet, Henry, first earl of Arlington (bap. 1618, d. 1685)’, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxfor ...
. Those titles fell into abeyance between the 9th Duke's sisters, with the abeyance of the barony of Arlington being ended in 1999.
The Dukes "created" and owned the London district of
Fitzrovia
Fitzrovia () is a district of central London, England, near the West End. The eastern part of area is in the London Borough of Camden, and the western in the City of Westminster. It has its roots in the Manor of Totten