William FitzWilliam, 3rd Earl FitzWilliam (15 January 1719/20 – 10 August 1756) was a British peer, nobleman, and politician. He was the son of

John Fitzwilliam, 2nd Earl Fitzwilliam John Fitzwilliam, 2nd Earl Fitzwilliam MP (circa 1685 – 28 August 1728) of Milton, near Peterborough was an English peer and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1710 to 1728. The peerage was in the Peerage of Ireland. Fitzwilliam ...

by his wife Anne, daughter of John Stringer of

Sutton cum Lound Sutton Cum Lound is a village located in Bassetlaw, north Nottinghamshire. It is located 3 miles from Retford. The civil parish is called Sutton. According to the 2001 census it has a population of 687, including Tithby and falling slightly to 6 ...

, Nottinghamshire. His sister Anne was later second wife to

Francis Godolphin, 2nd Baron Godolphin Francis Godolphin, 2nd Baron Godolphin (2 November 1706 – 25 May 1785) was a British politician and peer. Life and career He was the eldest surviving son of Henry Godolphin, provost of Eton and Dean of St Paul's, and was educated at Eton Colle ...

. He succeeded his father as third

Earl Fitzwilliam Earl Fitzwilliam (or FitzWilliam) was a title in both the Peerage of Ireland and the Peerage of Great Britain held by the head of the Fitzwilliam family (later Wentworth-Fitzwilliam). History The Fitzwilliams acquired extensive holdings in th ...

in the

Peerage of Ireland The Peerage of Ireland consists of those titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lord or King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It is one of the five divisi ...

on 28 August 1728. He was elected Member of Parliament for

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

on 4 May 1741, and sat until he was created Baron Fitzwilliam in the

Peerage of Great Britain The Peerage of Great Britain comprises all extant peerages created in the Kingdom of Great Britain between the Acts of Union 1707 and the Acts of Union 1800. It replaced the Peerage of England and the Peerage of Scotland, but was itself r ...

on 19 April 1742. He was made a Member of the Irish Privy Council on 6 June 1746, and further created Earl Fitzwilliam in the Peerage of Great Britain on 6 September 1746. On 22 June 1744 at

St George's, Hanover Square St George's, Hanover Square, is an Anglican church, the parish church of Mayfair in the City of Westminster, central London, built in the early eighteenth century as part of a project to build fifty new churches around London (the Queen Anne C ...

, Lord Fitzwilliam was married to Lady Anne Watson-Wentworth, daughter of the Earl of Malton. Lord Malton was later created

Marquess of Rockingham Marquess of Rockingham, in the County of Northampton, was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1746 for Thomas Watson-Wentworth, 1st Earl of Malton. The Watson family descended from Lewis Watson, Member of Parliament f ...

; Lady Anne's brother was the future

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 ...

Charles Watson-Wentworth. Lord and Lady Fitzwilliam had two sons and six daughters: * Lady Anne (23 March 1745 – 8 December 1819); * Lady Charlotte (14 July 1746 – 11 February 1833), who married

Thomas Dundas, 1st Baron Dundas Thomas Dundas, 1st Baron Dundas Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (16 February 1741 – 14 June 1820), known as Sir Thomas Dundas, 2nd Baronet from 1781 to 1794, was a British people, British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1763 ...

and had issue; * William Fitzwilliam, 4th Earl Fitzwilliam (30 May 1748 – 8 February 1833); * Lady Frances Henrietta (22 October 1750 – 28 October 1835); * Lady Amelia Maria (12 December 1751 – 8 August 1752); * Lady Henrietta (20 March 1753 – ); * Lady Dorothy (22 May 1754 – 16 March 1809); *

George Fitzwilliam George Fitzwilliam (28 February 1756 – 6 May 1786) was a British Member of Parliament. Biography Fitzwilliam was the younger son of William Fitzwilliam, 3rd Earl Fitzwilliam, by his wife Anne, sister of Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of ...

(28 February 1756 – May 1786).Lodge's ''Peerage of Ireland'' (1789) vol. 2
p. 181
''The Register of Births & Baptisms in the Parish of St James within the Liberty of Westminster Vol. IV. 1741-1760''. 11 March 1756. Lord Fitzwilliam died at

Marholm Marholm is a village and civil parish in the Peterborough district, in the ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. West of Peterborough and 1 mile from the seat of the Fitzwilliam family at Milton Hall. The parish covers some 1,400 acre ...

at the age of thirty-six and was succeeded as Earl by his son William. His widow Lady Fitzwilliam died on 29 August 1769.

References

1719 births 1756 deaths Members of the Privy Council of Ireland Earls in the Peerage of Great Britain Peers of Great Britain created by George II British MPs 1741–1747 Earls Fitzwilliam {{Ireland-earl-stub