William FitzClarence, 2nd Earl of Munster, (19 May 1824 – 30 April 1901), styled Viscount FitzClarence from 1831 to 1842, was a British peer. He was named after his grandfather,

King 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 ...

Biography

FitzClarence's father, George FitzClarence, 1st Earl of Munster, was an illegitimate son of King William IV by his long-time mistress Dorothea Jordan. Therefore, the second Earl of Munster was the great-grandson of

King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...

and first cousin once removed of

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. His mother was Mary Wyndham (d. 3 December 1842), the illegitimate daughter of

George Wyndham, 3rd Earl of Egremont George O'Brien Wyndham, 3rd Earl of Egremont Royal Society#Fellows, FRS (18 December 1751 – 11 November 1837) of Petworth House in Sussex and Orchard Wyndham in Somerset, was a British Peerage of Great Britain, peer, a major landowner and a ...

. FitzClarence succeeded as the 2nd Earl of Munster on the suicide of his father, on 20 March 1842. For the most part, FitzClarence led a typical Victorian upper-class life of hunting parties and balls. He purchased a commission as ensign and lieutenant in the

Scots Fusilier Guards Scots may refer to: People and cultures * Scots language * Scottish people * Scoti, a Latin name for the Gaels Other uses * SCOTS, abbreviation for Royal Regiment of Scotland * Scottish Corpus of Texts and Speech (SCOTS), a linguistic resource * ...

on 1 July 1842. On 7 April 1843, he purchased a cornetcy and sub-lieutenancy in the

Grenadier 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 ...

. He purchased a lieutenancy on 1 May 1846 and a captaincy on 16 March 1849. Munster retired from the Army in April 1851.

Marriage and children

FitzClarence married his first cousin Wilhelmina Kennedy-Erskine (27 June 1830 – 9 October 1906) on 17 April 1855. Her mother, Augusta FitzClarence, was the sister of his father, George Augustus FitzClarence. In later life, she became a novelist. They had nine children: * Edward FitzClarence, Viscount FitzClarence (29 March 1856 – 1870) * Hon Lionel Frederick Archibald FitzClarence (24 July 1857 – 24 March 1863) *

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

Geoffrey George Gordon FitzClarence, 3rd Earl of Munster (18 July 1859 – 2 February 1902); died without issue * Hon Arthur Falkland Manners FitzClarence (18 October 1860 – 20 April 1861) * Aubrey FitzClarence, 4th Earl of Munster (7 June 1862 – 1 January 1928); died without issue * Hon William George FitzClarence (17 September 1864 – 4 October 1899), married Charlotte Elizabeth Williams * Hon Harold Edward FitzClarence (15 November 1870 – 28 August 1926); father of Geoffrey FitzClarence, 5th Earl of Munster * Lady Lillian Adelaide Katherine Mary FitzClarence (10 December 1873 – 15 July 1948), married

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

William Arthur Edward Boyd * Lady Dorothea Augusta FitzClarence (5 May 1876 – 28 January 1942), married

Chandos Brydges Lee-Warner

Death

Lord Munster died in 1901, at 23 Palmeira Square,

Hove Hove ( ) is a seaside resort in East Sussex, England. Alongside Brighton, it is one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove. Originally a fishing village surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th century in respon ...

, at the age of 77, when his

second cousin A cousin is a relative who is the child of a parent's sibling; this is more specifically referred to as a first cousin. A parent of a first cousin is an aunt or uncle. More generally, in the kinship system used in the English-speaking world, ...

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until Death and state funeral of Edward VII, his death in 1910. The second child ...

was on the throne of the United Kingdom. He was buried at

Cuckfield Cuckfield ( ) is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Mid Sussex District, Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England, on the southern slopes of the Weald. It lies south of London, north of Brighton, and east northea ...

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

. He was succeeded in the

earldom Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. A feminine form of ''earl'' never developed; instead, ''countess'' is used. The titl ...

and other titles by his third eldest son, Geoffrey.

Notes

References

* Cokayne, George Edward, ''The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant'', A. Sutton, Gloucester, 1982, volume IX, pp. 430–1. {{DEFAULTSORT:Munster, William FitzClarence, 2nd Earl of William FitzClarence, 2nd Earl of Munster Grenadier Guards officers Scots Guards officers 1824 births 1901 deaths 2