Lieutenant-General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was normall ...

James FitzGerald, 1st Duke of Leinster, PC (Ire) (29 May 1722 – 19 November 1773), styled Lord Offaly until 1743 and known as The Earl of Kildare between 1743 and 1761 and as The Marquess of Kildare between 1761 and 1766, was an

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the State rel ...

nobleman, soldier and politician.

Background

Leinster was the son of Robert FitzGerald, 19th Earl of Kildare, and Lady Mary, daughter of William O'Brien, 3rd Earl of Inchiquin.

Career

Leinster was a member of the

Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until the end of 1800. The upper house was the Irish House of Lords, House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, ...

for Athy from 1741 before succeeding his father as 20th Earl of Kildare in 1743. He was sworn of the Irish Privy Council in 1746 and in 1747, on the occasion of his marriage (see below), he was created Viscount Leinster, of Taplow in the County of Buckingham, 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 repla ...

, and took his seat in the British

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

that same year. From 1749 to 1755 he was one of the leaders of the Popular Party in Ireland, and served as the country's Master-General of the Ordnance between 1758 and 1766, becoming Colonel of the Royal Irish Artillery in 1760. He was promoted to Major-General in 1761 and to

in 1770. In 1761 Lord Kildare was created Earl of Offaly and Marquess of Kildare in the

Peerage of Ireland The peerage of Ireland consists of those Peerage, titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lordship of Ireland, Lord or Monarchy of Ireland, King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great B ...

and in 1766 he was further honoured when he was made Duke of Leinster, becoming by this time the Premier Duke, Marquess and Earl in the Peerage of Ireland.

Family

Leinster married the 15-year-old Lady Emily Lennox (6 October 1731 –

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 ...

, 27 March 1814), daughter of Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond and one of the famous

Lennox Sisters The Lennox sisters were four eighteenth-century British aristocrats, the daughters of Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond (1701–1750) by his wife Lady Sarah Lennox, Duchess of Richmond and Lennox, Sarah Cadogan (1705–1751). The four sisters ...

, in London on 7 February 1747. She was a great-granddaughter of King Charles II and was therefore a distant fifth cousin of King George III (both of them were descended from King

James VI and I James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and King of Ireland, Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 M ...

). The couple had nineteen children: *George FitzGerald, Earl of Offaly (15 January 1748 – Richmond House, 26 September 1765). * William FitzGerald, 2nd Duke of Leinster (Arlington Place, Piccadilly,

, 12 March 1749 – Carton House, Kildare, 20 October 1804). *Lady Caroline FitzGerald (1750 – 1754). *Lady Emily Mary FitzGerald (15 March 1751 – 8 April 1818), married Charles Coote, 1st Earl of Bellomont and Baron Coote of Coolony. The couple had five children, one son who died young (born 1776) and four daughters. Emily died in Penzance, Cornwall in 1818 after a lingering illness. *Lady Henrietta FitzGerald (1753 – 1763). *Lady Caroline FitzGerald (born and died 1755). * Charles FitzGerald, 1st Baron Lecale (30 June 1756 – 30 June 1810). * Lady Charlotte Mary Gertrude FitzGerald (29 May 1758 – 13 September 1836), married Joseph Strutt and was made first Baroness Rayleigh. Had issue. *Lady Louisa Bridget FitzGerald (1760 – 1765). * Lord Henry FitzGerald (30 July 1761 – 8 July 1829), general; married Charlotte Boyle and had issue, who take by inheritance the surname "de Ros". *Lady Sophia Sarah Mary FitzGerald (1762 – 21 March 1845). * Lord Edward FitzGerald (15 October 1763 – 4 June 1798), revolutionary and prominent leader of the

United Irishmen The Society of United Irishmen was a sworn association, formed in the wake of the French Revolution, to secure Representative democracy, representative government in Ireland. Despairing of constitutional reform, and in defiance both of British ...

during the 1798 rising. *Lord Robert Stephen FitzGerald (1765 – 2 January 1833), a diplomat; married Sophia Charlotte Fielding and had issue. *Lord Gerald FitzGerald (January 1766 – 1788). Drowned, went down with the ship in which he was serving. *Lord Augustus FitzGerald (1767 – 1771). *Lady Fanny FitzGerald (1770 – 1775). *Lady Lucy Anne FitzGerald (1771 – 1851), who took part in the Irish Rebellion of 1798. She was married to Admiral Sir Thomas Foley, who served with distinction under Lord Nelson. They had no children. *Lady Louisa FitzGerald (1772 – 1776). *Lord George Simon FitzGerald (16 April 1773 – 1783). Recognized as a son of Lord Kildare, but was in fact the biological son of his brother's tutor, William Ogilvie. Leinster died at

Leinster House Leinster House () is the seat of the Oireachtas, the parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Originally, it was the ducal palace of the Duke of Leinster, Dukes of Leinster. Since 1922, it has been a complex of buildings which houses Oirea ...

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, in November 1773, aged 51, and was buried in the city's Christ Church Cathedral. He was succeeded by his second (but eldest surviving) son, William, Marquess of Kildare. The Duchess of Leinster caused a minor sensation by marrying her lover William Ogilvie in 1774, but continued to be known as The Dowager Duchess of Leinster. She had a further three children by him. She died in

in March 1814, aged 82.

Popular culture

In 1999, Irish Screen,

BBC America BBC America is an American basic cable network that is owned by AMC Networks. The channel primarily airs sci-fi and action series and films, as well as selected programs from the BBC (such as its nature documentary series). Unlike the BBC's ...

and WGBH produced ''Aristocrats'', a six-part limited television series based on the lives of Emily Lennox and her sisters. Leinster was portrayed by Ben Daniels.

Ancestry

References

Pedigree of the 1st Duke of Leinster
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leinster, James FitzGerald, 1st Duke of James 1722 births 1773 deaths Irish MPs 1727–1760 Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Kildare constituencies Politicians from County Kildare Politicians from County Dublin Members of the Privy Council of Ireland Dukes of Leinster (1766 creation) Peers of Great Britain created by George II Barons Offaly