Augustus Frederick FitzGerald, 3rd Duke of Leinster, etc. (21 August 1791 – 10 February/October 1874) was an Anglo-Irish peer and

freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

, styled Marquess of Kildare from birth until 1804. He was born and died in

Carton House Carton House is a country house and surrounding demesne that was the ancestral seat of the Earls of Kildare and Dukes of Leinster for over 700 years. Located 23 km west of Dublin, in Maynooth, County Kildare, the Carton Demesne is a 1,100 ...

. FitzGerald was Grand Master of the

Grand Lodge of Ireland The Grand Lodge of Ireland is the second most senior Grand Lodge of Freemasons in the world, and the oldest in continuous existence. Since no specific record of its foundation exists, 1725 is the year celebrated in Grand Lodge anniversaries, as ...

for most of the 19th century, holding the post for 61 years from 1813 until 1874.

Family

FitzGerald was the eldest surviving son of William FitzGerald, 2nd Duke of Leinster and his wife, Emilia Olivia St George, daughter of the 1st Baron St George. He inherited his father's dukedom in 1804. On 16 June 1818, Leinster married Lady Charlotte Augusta Stanhope (15 February 1793 – 15 February 1859), the third daughter of Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl of Harrington. They had four children: * Charles FitzGerald, 4th Duke of Leinster (1819–1887) * Lord Gerald FitzGerald (

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, 6 January 1821 – 23 September 1886), married on 9 June 1862 Anne Agnes Barker (died 6 June 1913), and had: ** Edward Gerald FitzGerald (London, 2 September 1863 – Studland, 5 August 1919), married in London on 20 February 1913 Anne Josephine Throckmorton, without issue * Lady Jane Seymour FitzGerald (died 3 November 1898), married on 5 September 1848 George William John Repton (1818–1906) * Lord Otho Augustus FitzGerald (1827–1882)

Government

Leinster was appointed Custos Rotulorum of Kildare in 1819 and Lord Lieutenant of Kildare in 1831, holding both posts for life. In 1831, he was admitted to the

Privy Council of Ireland His or Her Majesty's Privy Council in Ireland, commonly called the Privy Council of Ireland, Irish Privy Council, or in earlier centuries the Irish Council, was the institution within the Dublin Castle administration which exercised formal executi ...

and to the

Privy Council of Great Britain The Privy Council, formally His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its members, known as privy counsellors, are mainly senior politicians who are current or former m ...

and was

Lord High Constable of Ireland The office of Lord High Constable of Ireland was used during coronations of the monarch of the United Kingdom after the Acts of Union 1800. The office was abolished after the creation of the Irish Free State in 1922. Medieval holders *Hugh de Lacy ...

at the coronations of

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 ...

and

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 January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

. He was a Commissioner of National Education for Ireland from 1836 to 1841.

Freemasonry

In 1813, he was chosen Grand Master of the

, a post he held until his death in 1874. Under FitzGerald and his Deputy Grand Secretary, John Fowler (1769-1856), all Freemasonic movements became highly centralised in Ireland and could not operative without the approval of the Grand Lodge. Marc Bédarride's '' Rite of Misraim'' was imported from France to Ireland during the time of FitzGerald. One of the Bédarride brothers is supposed to have visited Ireland in 1820 and by February 1821, a council of seventeen members of the Rite was formed, including; FitzGerald, Fowler, Dumoulin, Norman, Mitchell, Trim and Jamar (a Frenchman residing in Dublin). Banned in France by the government in 1822, it continued to exist in Ireland as part of the Supreme Grand Council of Rites (approved by the Grand Lodge of Ireland), set up on 28 January 1838. Retrieved on 26 July 2017.

References

Bibliography

* "''The Order of Misraim in Ireland''", Thomas E. Johnston, Trans. Lodge CC, Dublin, 1949-1957 * Murdoch, Tessa (ed.), ''Great Irish Households: Inventories from the Long Eighteenth Century''. Cambridge: John Adamson, 2022 . See pp. 247–56 and 265–303 for a transcript of the inventory drawn up for the 3rd duke on New Year's Day 1818, some months before his wedding.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leinster, Augustus Fitzgerald, 3rd Duke Of

Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...

1791 births 1874 deaths Irish Anglicans Irish Freemasons Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain Members of the Privy Council of Ireland Lord-lieutenants of Kildare 19th-century Anglo-Irish people Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Dukes of Leinster (1766 creation)