Maurice FitzGerald, 6th Duke of Leinster (1 March 1887 – 4 February 1922), styled Marquess of Kildare until 1893, was the eldest son of the 5th Duke of Leinster and his wife, the former Lady Hermione Wilhelmina Duncombe, a daughter of the 1st Earl of Feversham.

Biography

Born at

Kilkea Castle Kilkea Castle is located northwest of Castledermot, County Kildare, Ireland near the village of Kilkea on the R418 regional road from Athy to Tullow. It was a medieval stronghold, for over 700 years, of the Fitzgeralds, earls of Kildare. H ...

and never married but was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

, he acceded to the dukedom and its related titles upon his father's death from

typhoid fever Typhoid fever, also known simply as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella enterica'' serotype Typhi bacteria, also called ''Salmonella'' Typhi. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often th ...

in 1893, at age 42; his mother died of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

in 1895, at age 30. The Duke had three siblings: *A sister (born 1885 – died 5 February 1886) *Lord Desmond FitzGerald (1888–1916) * Edward FitzGerald, 7th Duke of Leinster (1892–1976), whose biological father it has been alleged was the 11th Earl of Wemyss. During his minority, his family's large estates in

County Kildare County Kildare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the Local gove ...

were sold in November 1903 by his trustees to 506 tenant farmers via the

Land Commission The Irish Land Commission was created by the British crown in 1843 to "inquire into the occupation of the land in Ireland. The office of the commission was in Dublin Castle, and the records were, on its conclusion, deposited in the records tower ...

. Some of the lands had a title dating back to the

Norman invasion of Ireland The Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland took place during the late 12th century, when Anglo-Normans gradually conquered and acquired large swathes of land in Ireland over which the monarchs of England then claimed sovereignty. The Anglo-Normans ...

in 1171. The 45,000

acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

s sold for £766,000, a huge amount at the time, but this had to cover costs, some

mortgages A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law jurisdictions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners to raise funds for any pur ...

and £272,000 that was earmarked to family trusts for the surviving younger children of the 4th duke.

Mental illness and death

The 6th Duke was reported to be in delicate health from childhood onwards and, the day before he turned 21, in 1908, a newspaper observed that he was "little known in London", due to the "careful way in which he has been obliged to live". Actually, the young Duke was, at the time, a patient at Craig House Hospital, a psychiatric institution, in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

Midlothian Midlothian (; ) is registration county, lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and one of 32 council areas of Scotland used for local government. Midlothian lies in the east-central Lowlands, bordering the City of Edinburgh council ar ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

; there he lived in his own villa, attended by a butler, from 1907 until his death in 1922. From 1908 until death John Donald Pollock served as his personal physician and confidant.

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leinster, Maurice Fitzgerald, 6th Duke Of Maurice 1887 births 1922 deaths People from County Kildare 19th-century Irish people Dukes of Leinster (1766 creation)