Lieutenant-Colonel Lord Charles FitzRoy (28 February 1791 – 17 June 1865), was a British soldier and Whig politician. He fought at the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (then in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium), marking the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The French Imperial Army (1804–1815), Frenc ...

at an early age and later held political office as

Vice-Chamberlain of the Household The Vice-Chamberlain of the Household is a member of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. The officeholder is usually a senior government whip in the British House of Commons ranking third or fourth after the Chief Whip and ...

between 1835 and 1838.

Background

Fitzroy was the second son of

George FitzRoy, 4th Duke of Grafton George Henry FitzRoy, 4th Duke of Grafton (14 January 1760 – 28 September 1844), styled Earl of Euston until 1811, was a British Peerage, peer and British Whig Party, Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1782 to 1811 when h ...

, and his wife Lady Charlotte Maria Waldegrave, daughter of

James Waldegrave, 2nd Earl Waldegrave James Waldegrave, 2nd Earl Waldegrave, (4 March 1715 – 13 April 1763) was an English politician and peer who is sometimes regarded as one of the shortest-serving prime ministers in British history. His brief tenure as First Lord of the Trea ...

Henry FitzRoy, 5th Duke of Grafton Henry FitzRoy, 5th Duke of Grafton (10 February 1790 – 26 March 1863), styled Viscount Ipswich until 1811 and Earl of Euston between 1811 and 1844, was a British peer and politician. Grafton was the son of George FitzRoy, 4th Duke of Grafton ...

, was his elder brother.

Military career

He joined the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

in 1807 and fought in the 1809

Battle of Corunna The Battle of Corunna (or ''A Coruña'', ''La Corunna'', ''La Coruña'' or ''La Corogne''), in Spain known as Battle of Elviña, took place on 16 January 1809, when a French corps under Marshal of the Empire Jean de Dieu Soult attacked a Briti ...

early in the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...

, before joining the

Walcheren Expedition The Walcheren Campaign () was an unsuccessful British expedition to the Kingdom of Holland in 1809 intended to open another front in the Austrian Empire's struggle with France during the War of the Fifth Coalition. John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Ch ...

the same year. He subsequently joined Lord Hill's staff in the Peninsular and was present at the Siege and capture of Badajoz (1812) and the 1813-14 battles of Vittoria,

Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

Nivelle Nivelle () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Heraldry See also *Communes of the Nord department The following is a list of the 647 communes of the Nord department of the French Republic. The communes cooperate ...

, the

Nive The Nive (; ; ) is a French river that flows through the French Basque Country. It is a left tributary of the river Adour. It is long. The river's source in the Pyrenees in Lower Navarre. The river Nive was made famous by the ''Le petit Nicol ...

, Orthes and

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

serving as a Deputy Assistant Adjutant General (DAAG). At

Waterloo Waterloo most commonly refers to: * Battle of Waterloo, 1815 battle where Napoleon's French army was defeated by Anglo-allied and Prussian forces * Waterloo, Belgium Waterloo may also refer to: Other places Australia * Waterloo, New South Wale ...

in 1815 he served on Wellington's as a captain in the

1st Foot Guards The Grenadier Guards (GREN GDS) is the most senior infantry regiment of the British Army, being at the top of the Infantry Order of Precedence. It can trace its lineage back to 1656 when Lord Wentworth's Regiment was raised in Bruges to protect ...

and an Assistant Adjutant General (AAG). He then served on Wellington's staff in the army of occupation in Paris after Waterloo. His portrait was painted by Edouard Pingret (who also painted a very similar portrait of Col Dawson Kelly CB) in 1818 wearing the Waterloo medal on his AAG uniform. He retired from the army on

half pay Half-pay (h.p.) was a term used in the British Army and Royal Navy of the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries to refer to the pay or allowance an officer received when in retirement or not in actual service. Past usage United Kingdom In the E ...

as a major and brevet lieutenant-colonel of the

27th Regiment of Foot The 27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot was an Irish infantry regiment of the English Army and then the British Army, formed in 1689. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 108th (Madras Infantry) Regiment of Foot to form the Royal Inn ...

in 1821. In retirement, he was chairman of the Finance Committee and honorary member of the 43rd Middlesex Rifle Volunteers.

Political career

FitzRoy was elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) for

Thetford Thetford is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Breckland District of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road (England), A11 road between Norwich and London, just east of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, coverin ...

at the 1818 general election, and held the seat until the 1830 general election, which he did not contest. He returned to Commons the following year, when he was elected at the 1831 general election as MP for

Bury St Edmunds Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as ''Bury,'' is a cathedral as well as market town and civil parish in the West Suffolk District, West Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St. Edmunds an ...

. He held the seat until

1847 Events January–March * January 4 – Samuel Colt sells his first revolver pistol to the U.S. government. * January 13 – The Treaty of Cahuenga ends fighting in the Mexican–American War in California. * January 16 – John C. Fr� ...

, when he did not stand again. When the Whigs came to power under

Lord Melbourne Henry William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne (15 March 177924 November 1848) was a British Whig politician who served as the Home Secretary and twice as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. His first premiership ended when he was dismissed ...

in 1835, FitzRoy was sworn of the Privy Council and appointed

, a post he held until 1838.

Family

Fitzroy married Lady Anne Cavendish, daughter of

George Cavendish, 1st Earl of Burlington George Cavendish, 1st Earl of Burlington (31 March 1754 – 9 May 1834), styled Lord George Cavendish before 1831, was a British nobleman and politician. He built Burlington Arcade. Background Cavendish was the third son of William Cavendish, ...

and Lady Elizabeth Compton, on 25 October 1825. They had two sons and two daughters. He died on 17 June 1865 at

Hampton Hampton may refer to: Places Australia *Hampton bioregion, an IBRA biogeographic region in Western Australia * Hampton, New South Wales *Hampton, Queensland, a town in the Toowoomba Region * Hampton, Victoria ** Hampton railway station, Melbour ...

, aged 74. Lady Charles FitzRoy died in May 1871, aged 83.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:FitzRoy, Charles 1791 births 1865 deaths Younger sons of dukes Whig (British political party) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1818–1820 UK MPs 1820–1826 UK MPs 1826–1830 UK MPs 1831–1832 UK MPs 1832–1835 UK MPs 1835–1837 UK MPs 1837–1841 UK MPs 1841–1847 Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom

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 ''* ...

People of the Battle of Waterloo