William FitzClarence, 2nd Earl of Munster, (19 May 1824 – 30 April 1901), styled Viscount FitzClarence from 1831 to 1842, was a

British peer The peerages in the United Kingdom are a legal system comprising both hereditary and lifetime titles, composed of various noble ranks, and forming a constituent part of the British honours system. The term ''peerage'' can be used both collec ...

. He was named after his grandfather,

King William IV William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded hi ...

Biography

FitzClarence's father, George FitzClarence, 1st Earl of Munster, was an illegitimate son of King William IV by his long-time mistress

Dorothea Jordan Dorothea Jordan, née Bland (21 November 17615 July 1816), was an Anglo-Irish actress, as well as a courtesan. She was the long-time mistress of Prince William, Duke of Clarence, later William IV, and the mother of ten illegitimate children by ...

. Therefore, the second Earl of Munster was the great-grandson of

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 ...

and first cousin once-removed of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

. His mother was Mary Wyndham (d. 3 December 1842), the illegitimate daughter of

George O'Brien Wyndham, 3rd Earl of Egremont George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...

. FitzClarence succeeded as the 2nd Earl of Munster on the suicide of his father, on 20 March 1842. For the most part, FitzClarence led a typical Victorian upper-class life of hunting parties and balls. He purchased a commission as ensign and lieutenant in the

Scots Fusilier Guards The Scots Guards (SG) is one of the five Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. Its origins are as the personal bodyguard of King Charles I of England and Scotland. Its lineage can be traced back to 1642, although it was only placed on the ...

on 1 July 1842. On 7 April 1843, he purchased a cornetcy and sub-lieutenancy in the

Grenadier Guards "Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it." , colors = , colors_label = , march = Slow: " Scipio" , mascot = , equipment = , equipment ...

. He purchased a lieutenancy on 1 May 1846 and a captaincy on 16 March 1849. Munster retired from the Army in April 1851.

Marriage and children

FitzClarence married his first cousin

Wilhelmina Kennedy-Erskine Wilhelmina FitzClarence, Countess of Munster (''née'' Kennedy-Erskine; 27 June 1830 – 9 October 1906) was a British peeress and novelist. Her mother, Lady Augusta FitzClarence, was an illegitimate daughter of William IV of the United Ki ...

(27 June 1830 – 9 October 1906) on 17 April 1855. Her mother, Augusta FitzClarence, was the sister of his father, George Augustus FitzClarence. In later life, she became a novelist. They had nine children: * Edward FitzClarence, Viscount FitzClarence (29 March 1856 – 1870) *

Hon Hon or HON may refer to: People * Han (surname) (Chinese: 韩/韓), also romanized Hon * Louis Hon (1924–2008), French footballer * Priscilla Hon (born 1998), Australian tennis player Other uses * Hon (Baltimore), a cultural stereotype of ...

Lionel Frederick Archibald FitzClarence (24 July 1857 – 24 March 1863) *

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

Geoffrey George Gordon FitzClarence, 3rd Earl of Munster (18 July 1859 – 2 February 1902); died without issue * Hon Arthur Falkland Manners FitzClarence (18 October 1860 – 20 April 1861) * Aubrey FitzClarence, 4th Earl of Munster (7 June 1862 – 1 January 1928); died without issue * Hon William George FitzClarence (17 September 1864 – 4 October 1899), married Charlotte Elizabeth Williams * Hon Harold Edward FitzClarence (15 November 1870 – 28 August 1926); father of

Geoffrey FitzClarence, 5th Earl of Munster Geoffrey William Richard Hugh FitzClarence, 5th Earl of Munster, KBE, PC (17 February 1906 – 26 August 1975) was a British peer and Conservative politician. Background Munster was the son of Major the Honourable Harold Edward FitzClarence ( ...

* Lady Lillian Adelaide Katherine Mary FitzClarence (10 December 1873 – 15 July 1948), married

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

William Arthur Edward Boyd * Lady Dorothea Augusta FitzClarence (5 May 1876 – 28 January 1942), married

Chandos Brydges Lee-Warner

Death

Lord Munster died in 1901, at 23

Palmeira Square Palmeira Square () is a mid-19th-century residential development in Hove, part of the English city and seaside resort of Brighton and Hove. At the southern end it adjoins Adelaide Crescent, another architectural set-piece which leads down to the ...

Hove Hove is a seaside resort and one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove, along with Brighton in East Sussex, England. Originally a "small but ancient fishing village" surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th cen ...

, at the age of 77, when his

second cousin Most generally, in the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a cousin is a type of familial relationship in which two relatives are two or more familial generations away from their most recent common ancestor. Commonly, ...

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria an ...

was on the throne of the United Kingdom. He was buried at

Cuckfield Cuckfield ( ) is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Mid Sussex District, Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England, on the southern slopes of the Weald. It lies south of London, north of Brighton, and east northeas ...

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

. He was succeeded in the earldom and other titles by his third but eldest surviving son, Geoffrey.

Notes

References

* Cokayne, George Edward, ''The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant'', A. Sutton, Gloucester, 1982, volume IX, pp. 430–1. {{DEFAULTSORT:Munster, William FitzClarence, 2nd Earl of

William FitzClarence, 2nd Earl of Munster William FitzClarence, 2nd Earl of Munster, (19 May 1824 – 30 April 1901), styled Viscount FitzClarence from 1831 to 1842, was a British peer. He was named after his grandfather, King William IV. Biography FitzClarence's father, George FitzCla ...

Grenadier Guards officers Scots Guards officers 1824 births 1901 deaths 2