Charles Alfred Euston FitzRoy, 10th Duke of Grafton (4 June 1892 – 11 November 1970), known as Charles FitzRoy until 1936, was a British aristocrat, soldier, politician, and farmer.

Background and education

He was born at

Euston Hall Euston Hall is a country house, with park by William Kent and Capability Brown, located in Euston, a small village in Suffolk located just south of Thetford, England. It is the family home of the Dukes of Grafton. The Hall Euston first appears ...

near

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, ...

, the eldest son of the Reverend Lord Charles Edward FitzRoy and of his wife, Hon. Ismay FitzRoy, daughter of

Charles FitzRoy, 3rd Baron Southampton Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was "f ...

. His paternal grandparents were

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 ...

, and Anna Balfour. Another ancestor, Anne Warren, was the daughter of Admiral Sir Peter Warren and a descendant of the

Schuyler family The Schuyler family ( /ˈskaɪlər/; Dutch pronunciation: xœylər was a prominent Dutch family in New York and New Jersey in the 18th and 19th centuries, whose descendants played a critical role in the formation of the United States (especiall ...

, the

Van Cortlandt family The Van Cortlandt family was an influential political dynasty from the seventeenth-century Dutch origins of New York through its period as an English colony, then after it became a state, and into the nineteenth century. It rose to great promin ...

, and the Delancey family, all from

British North America British North America comprised the colonial territories of the British Empire in North America from 1783 onwards. English overseas possessions, English colonisation of North America began in the 16th century in Newfoundland (island), Newfound ...

. He was educated at

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

and then at the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infant ...

Military career

In 1911, he joined the

Royal Welch Fusiliers The Royal Welch Fusiliers ( cy, Ffiwsilwyr Brenhinol Cymreig) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, and part of the Prince of Wales' Division, that was founded in 1689; shortly after the Glorious Revolution. In 1702, it was designate ...

, who were stationed at

Quetta Quetta (; ur, ; ; ps, کوټه‎) is the tenth List of cities in Pakistan by population, most populous city in Pakistan with a population of over 1.1 million. It is situated in Geography of Pakistan, south-west of the country close to the ...

in what is now

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. In 1914, soon after the outbreak of the

Great War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he went to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, and in 1917, he was appointed as aide-de-camp and

comptroller A comptroller (pronounced either the same as ''controller'' or as ) is a management-level position responsible for supervising the quality of accounting and financial reporting of an organization. A financial comptroller is a senior-level executi ...

to Lord Buxton, Governor General of South Africa. He remained in South Africa until 1920. In 1921, he retired from the army.

Farming

After retirement from the Army, he became a farmer at Coney Weston in Suffolk. From 1927 to 1936, he was land agent for his first wife's maternal uncle,Hugh Colin Smith
s daughter was Mildred Anne Smith (d 1955), wife of the 1st Earl Buxton and mother of Lady Doreen (below). Her youngest brother was Owen Hugh Smith (1869-1958). Owen Hugh Smith, at Langham in Rutland. In 1936, he succeeded his cousin as

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 ...

and inherited the family estates based at

Family

He married, firstly, Lady Doreen Maria Josepha Sydney Buxton (29 November 1897 – 28 July 1923), daughter of his commanding officer

Sydney Buxton, 1st Earl Buxton Sydney Charles Buxton, 1st Earl Buxton, (25 October 1853 – 15 October 1934) was a radical British Liberal politician of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He also served as the second Governor-General of South Africa from 1914 to 1920 ...

, and his wife, Mildred Anne Smith, on 24 January 1918. They had three children: * Hugh Denis Charles FitzRoy, 11th Duke of Grafton (3 April 1919 – 7 April 2011). * Lady Anne Mildred Ismay FitzRoy (7 August 1920 – 4 November 2019), married Major Colin Dalzell Mackenzie and had issue. * Lord Charles Oliver Edward FitzRoy (13 July 1923 – 6 August 1944), killed in action; unmarried. A year after his first wife's death, he married, secondly, Lucy Eleanor Barnes (25 December 1897 – 11 September 1943), daughter of Sir George Stapylton Barnes and of his wife, Sybil de Gournay Buxton. The ceremony took place on 6 October 1924. Lucy was the first cousin of Charles' first wife. They had two children: * Lord Edward Anthony Charles FitzRoy (26 August 1928 – 25 November 2007), married Veronica Mary Ruttledge and had issue. * Lord Michael Charles FitzRoy (18 March 1932– 15 July 1954), died in the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capita ...

(missing, presumed drowned). The year after his second wife's death, he married, thirdly, Rita Emily Carr-Ellison (24 October 1911 – 24 August 1970), daughter of John Ralph Carr-Ellison and of his wife, Alice Ursula Lang. The ceremony took place on 18 July 1944. He died at Bury St Edmunds on 11 November 1970.

References

* "Duke of Grafton, Soldier and Landowner", ''The Times'' (13 November 1970): 12. * "Duke of Grafton, An Outstanding Agriculturalist", ''The Times'' (19 November 1970): 13.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Grafton, Charles FitzRoy, 10th Duke of Grafton, Charles FitzRoy, 10th Duke of Grafton, Charles FitzRoy, 10th Duke of

110 110 may refer to: *110 (number), natural number *AD 110, a year *110 BC, a year *110 film, a cartridge-based film format used in still photography *110 (MBTA bus), Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority bus route *110 (song), 2019 song by Capi ...

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...

C Schuyler family English people of Dutch descent People educated at Wellington College, Berkshire Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Royal Welch Fusiliers officers British Army personnel of World War I People from the Borough of St Edmundsbury