Admiral Lord William FitzRoy (1 June 1782 – 13 May 1857), was an officer of the British Royal Navy who served during the

French Revolutionary The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are consider ...

and

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

, and also as a Member of Parliament.

Biography

Family background

FitzRoy was the third son of Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton, by his second wife, Elizabeth, the daughter of the Reverend Sir Richard Wrottesley, Bt.; he was also an uncle of Vice-Admiral

Robert FitzRoy Vice-Admiral Robert FitzRoy (5 July 1805 – 30 April 1865) was an English officer of the Royal Navy and a scientist. He achieved lasting fame as the captain of during Charles Darwin's famous voyage, FitzRoy's second expedition to Tierra de ...

Naval career

FitzRoy entered the Navy on 21 April 1794, on board the frigate , firstly serving under Captain William Bentinck, and following the battle of the

Glorious First of June The Glorious First of June (1 June 1794), also known as the Fourth Battle of Ushant, (known in France as the or ) was the first and largest fleet action of the naval conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the First French Republic ...

, under Captain

Robert Stopford Robert Wright Stopford, (20 February 1901 – 13 August 1976) was a British Anglican bishop. Early life and education Stopford was born in Garston, Merseyside (then in Lancashire), and educated at Coatham School in Redcar and Liverpool Colle ...

. He then served abroad the

74-gun The "seventy-four" was a type of two- decked sailing ship of the line, which nominally carried 74 guns. It was developed by the French navy in the 1740s, replacing earlier classes of 60- and 62-gun ships, as a larger complement to the recently-de ...

, under

Lord Hugh Seymour Vice-Admiral Lord Hugh Seymour (29 April 1759 – 11 September 1801) was a senior British Royal Navy officer of the late 18th century who was the fifth son of Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Marquess of Hertford, and became known for being both a ...

, following him into the 80-gun , and seeing action at the

Battle of Groix The Battle of Groix was a large naval engagement which took place near the island of Groix off the Biscay coast of Brittany on 23 June 1795 ( 5 messidor an III) during the French Revolutionary Wars. The battle was fought between elements of the ...

on 23 June 1795. After serving in the frigates , Captain

Edward Foote Vice-Admiral Sir Edward James Foote, KCB (20 April 1767 – 23 May 1833) was a prominent Royal Navy officer during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. He served on a number of ships and at several actions, but is best known ...

; , Captain

Lawrence Halsted Admiral Sir Lawrence William Halsted GCB (2 April 1764 – 22 April 1841) was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Halsted was the son of a nava ...

; and , Captain the Hon.

Arthur Kaye Legge Arthur is a common male given name of Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. Another theory, more ...

, in February 1798 he rejoined Captain Foote on board , and was present at the action of 27 June 1798 when ''Seahorse'' captured the in the

Strait of Sicily The Strait of Sicily (also known as Sicilian Strait, Sicilian Channel, Channel of Sicily, Sicilian Narrows and Pantelleria Channel; it, Canale di Sicilia or the Stretto di Sicilia; scn, Canali di Sicilia or Strittu di Sicilia, ar, مضيق ص ...

. FitzRoy was promoted to lieutenant on 13 May 1800 into the frigate , Captain the Honourable

Henry Blackwood Vice-Admiral Sir Henry Blackwood, 1st Baronet, GCH, KCB (28 December 1770 – 17 December 1832), whose memorial is in Killyleagh Parish Church, was a British sailor. Early life Blackwood was the fourth son of Sir John Blackwood, 2nd Baronet, ...

, in which he witnessed the surrender of Malta in September, and took part in the

Egyptian Campaign The French campaign in Egypt and Syria (1798–1801) was Napoleon Bonaparte's campaign in the Ottoman territories of Egypt and Syria, proclaimed to defend French trade interests, to establish scientific enterprise in the region. It was the pr ...

in mid-1801. On 31 October 1801, he was appointed acting-

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

and captain of the sloop HMS ''Salamine'', and after confirmation on 7 January 1802 of his promotion, commanded . He returned to England, and from 26 January 1803 commanded . FitzRoy was promoted to

post-captain Post-captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of Captain (Royal Navy), captain in the Royal Navy. The term served to distinguish those who were captains by rank from: * Officers in command of a naval vessel, who were (and still are) ...

on 3 March 1804, taking command of the frigate , and was present at the

battle of Cape Ortegal The Battle of Cape Ortegal was the final action of the Trafalgar campaign, and was fought between a squadron of the Royal Navy and a remnant of the fleet that had been defeated earlier at the Battle of Trafalgar. It took place on 4 November 180 ...

on 4 November 1805, and at the invasion of Martinique in February 1809. In June 1810 he commissioned the frigate to serve on the Lisbon station. On 7 April 1811 FitzRoy was dismissed from the Navy after a court-martial found him guilty of "False Expense of Stores" and "Tyranny & Oppression". FitzRoy was charged with falsifying the reports of the ships stores and selling the surplus for his own profit. He also sentenced a seaman to 48 lashes for drunkenness, four times the legal maximum. Furthermore, when challenged, FitzRoy accused the

master Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

of "contempt" and had him clapped in irons, also in breach of naval law. Despite being declared incapable of ever serving again as an officer, FitzRoy was restored to his former rank and seniority by the

Prince Regent A prince regent or princess regent is a prince or princess who, due to their position in the line of succession, rules a monarchy as regent in the stead of a monarch regnant, e.g., as a result of the sovereign's incapacity (minority or illness ...

the following August, though he received no further employment in the Navy. Nevertheless, he was made a

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregive ...

on 4 June 1815, promoted to rear admiral on 10 January 1837, and made a

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

on 4 July 1840.

Political career

Fitzroy was still on active service in ''Aeolus'' when he was elected as Member of Parliament for the family seat of

Thetford Thetford is a market town and civil parish in the Breckland District of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road between Norwich and London, just east of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, covering an area of , in 2015 had a population of 24,340 ...

in the 1806 election, and so did not make first appearance in the house until 1810, as a supporter of the Whigs. He was replaced as MP by his brother Lord John FitzRoy at the 1812 election.

Personal life

On 9 August 1816 he married Georgiana Raikes, the second daughter of

Thomas Raikes Thomas Raikes ("the Elder") (28 March 1741 – 29 December 1813) was a British merchant particularly trading from London with Russia, a banker and newspaper proprietor. Notably, he was Governor of the Bank of England during the 1797 currency c ...

, and had a son and three daughters, including: *Francis Horatio FitzRoy (6 June 1823 – 20 Mach 1900), who married in 1849 Honourable Gertrude Duncombe (1827–1916), daughter of

William Duncombe, 2nd Baron Feversham William Duncombe, 2nd Baron Feversham (14 January 1798 – 11 February 1867), was a British peer with a large estate in the North Riding of Yorkshire. He was prominent in the affairs of the Royal Agricultural Society and owner of a prize-winni ...

, and left three daughters and two sons. Sir Almeric William FitzRoy (1851–1935) was their son. *Harriet Elizabeth FitzRoy (d.14 July 1875), who married in 1862 Colonel Michael Dawes *Elizabeth Georgiana FitzRoy (d. 5 February 1868) Admiral FitzRoy died at

East Sheen East Sheen, also known as Sheen, is a suburb in south-west London in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its long high street has shops, offices, restaurants, cafés, pubs and suburban supermarkets and is also the economic hub for Mort ...

, London, on 13 May 1857, and is buried in

Old Mortlake Burial Ground Old Mortlake Burial Ground, also known as Old Mortlake Cemetery, is a cemetery in Mortlake in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, at Avenue Gardens, London SW14 8BP. Established in 1854, and enlarged in 1877, it is now managed by Richmon ...

Mortlake Mortlake is a suburban district of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames on the south bank of the River Thames between Kew and Barnes. Historically it was part of Surrey and until 1965 was in the Municipal Borough of Barnes. For many centu ...

, London.

References