Henry James FitzRoy, Earl of Euston (28 November 1848 – 10 May 1912) was the eldest son and heir apparent of

Augustus FitzRoy, 7th Duke of Grafton Augustus Charles Lennox FitzRoy, 7th Duke of Grafton (22 June 1821 – 4 December 1918), styled Lord Augustus FitzRoy before 1882, was a British Army officer. He was the second son of Henry FitzRoy, 5th Duke of Grafton, and his wife Mary Car ...

. His mother was the daughter of MP James Balfour.

Personal life

Euston married a music hall artiste "Kate Cooke", real name Kate Walsh, daughter of John Walsh, on 29 May 1871 at St. Michael's Church,

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...

. Described as "one of the most notorious women in London" she was at least ten years his senior.''Letter of Marquise De Fontenoy'', Chicago Tribune, 9 August 1904, http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1903/05/18/page/12/article/letter-of-marquise-de-fontenoy/index.html They had no children, and separated after three years, Euston securing a government position in Australia. Having discovered that Walsh had contracted a bigamous marriage, he returned to London to seek an annulment. At great expense Walsh's presumed husband was located in New Zealand and brought to London. In a case that was termed "stranger than fiction", at the last moment of the cross examination of Walsh's husband in court it was discovered that three years prior to marrying her, he had wedded another woman. His marriage to Walsh was therefore invalid, and hers to Euston legitimate. Walsh remained Lady Euston until she died in 1903, predeceasing Lord Euston by nine years.

Cleveland Street scandal

In 1890, Euston was embroiled in the

Cleveland Street scandal The Cleveland Street scandal occurred in 1889, when a homosexual male brothel and Love hotel, house of assignation on Cleveland Street, London, was discovered by police. The government was accused of covering up the scandal to protect the names o ...

when he was accused of visiting a male brothel at 19 Cleveland Street in London by ''The North London Press'', an obscure radical weekly newspaper. Euston sued for

libel Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...

. At the trial Euston admitted that when walking along

Piccadilly Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road that connects central London to Hammersmith, Earl's Court, ...

he had been given a card by a

tout A tout is any person who solicits business or employment in a persistent and annoying manner (generally equivalent to a ''solicitor'' or '' barker'' in American English, or a ''spruiker'' in Australian English). An example would be a person who ...

which read "''Poses plastiques''. C. Hammond, 19 Cleveland Street". Euston testified that he went along to the house, believing ''Poses plastiques'' to mean a display of female nudes. He paid a

sovereign ''Sovereign'' is a title which can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word is borrowed from Old French , which is ultimately derived from the Latin , meaning 'above'. The roles of a sovereign vary from monarch, ruler or ...

to get in. On entry, Euston said he was appalled to discover the "improper" nature of the place and immediately left. The defence witnesses contradicted each other, and could not describe Euston accurately. The final defence witness,

John Saul John Saul (born February 25, 1942) is an American author of suspense and horror novels. Most of his books have appeared on the ''New York Times'' Best Seller List. . Biography Born in Pasadena, Saul grew up in Whittier, California, and grad ...

, was a male prostitute who admitted to earning his living by leading an "immoral life" and "practising criminality". The jury did not believe the defence witnesses and found in favour of Euston.

H. Montgomery Hyde Harford Montgomery Hyde (14 August 190710 August 1989), born in Belfast, Ireland, was a barrister, politician (Ulster Unionist MP for Belfast North), prolific author and biographer. He was deselected by his party in 1959, losing his seat in th ...

, an eminent historian of homosexuality, later wrote that there was little doubt that Euston was telling the truth and only visited 19 Cleveland Street once because he was misled by the card. However, Robert Cliburn, a young man who specialised in blackmailing older homosexual men, told

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

that Euston was one of his victims.

Later career

In 1894, while presiding at a police court in Towcester, Euston sentenced a man to one month's imprisonment for stealing a cake valued at 3d from a shop in the village of

Blisworth Blisworth is a village and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire, England. The West Coast Main Line, from London Euston to Manchester and Scotland, runs alongside the village partly hidden and partly on an embankment. The Grand Union Canal ...

, then part of the ducal estate. The heavy sentence drew newspaper coverage and caused widespread indignation. In the coronation year of 1901, he was appointed aide-de-camp to Edward VII.Wilson, Colin; Wilson, Damon ''Scandal!: An Explosive Exposé of the Affairs, Corruption and Power Struggles'', Random House, 2011 In 1902, Euston was taken to court by moneylenders over a dishonoured bill payment. It was stated that he was liable for up to fifteen thousand pounds to various moneylenders. In court, Euston stated the loans had been raised to assist the solicitor Arthur Newton out of "simple friendliness" while he had been acting for him. The court found against Euston. Newton had acted for Lord Arthur Somerset during the Cleveland Street scandal. A few months later Euston was declared bankrupt, with liabilities of over 54,269 pounds and assets of just 174 pounds. Euston was appointed a deputy lieutenant of

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

in 1907. He died in 1912 of

dropsy Edema, also spelled oedema, and also known as fluid retention, dropsy, hydropsy and swelling, is the build-up of fluid in the body's tissue. Most commonly, the legs or arms are affected. Symptoms may include skin which feels tight, the area ma ...

at Wakefield Lodge,

Potterspury Potterspury is a populous village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire. The nearest main town is Milton Keynes, the centre of which is about 7 miles south-east. At the time of the 2011 census, the parish's population (including Furtho) was ...

. As his death occurred six years before the death of his father, he never inherited his father's lands and titles. His younger brother,

Alfred Alfred may refer to: Arts and entertainment *''Alfred J. Kwak'', Dutch-German-Japanese anime television series * ''Alfred'' (Arne opera), a 1740 masque by Thomas Arne * ''Alfred'' (Dvořák), an 1870 opera by Antonín Dvořák *"Alfred (Interlu ...

, became the 8th

Duke of Grafton Duke of Grafton is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1675 by Charles II of England for Henry FitzRoy, his second illegitimate son by the Duchess of Cleveland. The most notable duke of Grafton was Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke ...

. Hyde, H. Montgomery (1970). ''The Other Love: An Historical and Contemporary Survey of Homosexuality in Britain''. London: Heinemann.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Euston, Henry FitzRoy, Earl of 1848 births 1912 deaths Courtesy earls Deputy Lieutenants of Northamptonshire Heirs apparent who never acceded H

Henry Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) * Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

Deaths from edema