Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton

His Grace
The Duke of Grafton
KG PC

Portrait by Pompeo Batoni, 1762. National Portrait Gallery, London
Prime Minister of Great Britain
In office
14 October 1768 – 28 January 1770
Monarch George III
Preceded by The Earl of Chatham
Succeeded by Lord North
Personal details
Born (1735-09-28)28 September 1735
Died 14 March 1811(1811-03-14) (aged 75)
Euston Hall, Suffolk
Political party Whig
Spouse(s)
  • Anne Liddell
    (m. 1756; div. 1769)
  • Elizabeth Wrottesley
    (m. 1769)
Children 9
Alma mater Peterhouse, Cambridge
Religion Unitarian
Signature

Augustus Henry FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton, KG, PC (28 September 1735 – 14 March 1811), styled Earl of Euston between 1747 and 1757, was a British Whig statesman of the Georgian era. He is one of a handful of dukes who have served as Prime Minister.

He became Prime Minister in 1768 at the age of 33, leading the supporters of William Pitt, and was the youngest person to have held the office until the appointment of William Pitt the Younger 15 years later. However, he struggled to demonstrate an ability to counter increasing challenges to Britain's global dominance following the nation's victory in the Seven Years' War. He was widely attacked for allowing France to annex Corsica, and stepped down in 1770, handing over power to Lord North.

Background and education

He was a son of Lord Augustus FitzRoy, a Captain in the Royal Navy,[1] and Elizabeth Cosby, daughter of Colonel William Cosby, who served as a colonial Governor of New York. His father was the third son of the 2nd Duke of Grafton and Lady Henrietta Somerset, which made FitzRoy a great-grandson of both the 1st Duke of Grafton and the Marquess of Worcester. He was notably a fourth-generation descendant of King Charles II and the 1st Duchess of Cleveland; the surname FitzRoy stems from this illegitimacy. His younger brother was the 1st Baron Southampton. From the death of his uncle in 1747, he was styled Earl of Euston as his grandfather's heir apparent.

Lord Euston was educated at Newcome's School in Hackney and at Westminster School, made the Grand Tour, and obtained a degree at Peterhouse, University of Cambridge.[2]

Political career

In 1756, he entered Parliament as MP for Boroughbridge, a pocket borough; several months later, he switched constituencies to Bury St Edmunds, which was controlled by his family. However, a year later, his grandfather died and he succeeded as 3rd Duke of Grafton, which elevated him to the House of Lords.

He first became known in politics as an opponent of Lord Bute,[3] a favourite of King George III. Grafton aligned himself with the Duke of Newcastle against Lord Bute, whose term as Prime Minister was short-lived largely because it was felt that the peace terms to which he had agreed at the Treaty of Paris were not a sufficient return for Britain's performance in the Seven Years War.

In 1765, Grafton was appointed a Privy Counsellor; then, following discussions with William Pitt the Elder, he was appointed Northern Secretary in Lord Rockingham's first government. However, he retired the following year, and Pitt (by then Lord Chatham) formed a ministry in which Grafton was First Lord of the Treasury but not Prime Minister.[4]

Chatham's illness, at the end of 1767, resulted in Grafton becoming the Government's effective leader (he is credited with entering the office of Prime Minister in 1768), but political differences, the impact of the Corsican Crisis and the attacks of "Junius" led to his resignation in January 1770. Also, in 1768, Grafton became Chancellor of Cambridge University. He became Lord Privy Seal in Lord North's ministry (1771) but resigned in 1775, being in favour of conciliatory action towards the American colonists. In the second Rockingham ministry of 1782, he was again Lord Privy Seal.[4]

Religious interests

In later years he was a prominent Unitarian, being one of the early members of the inaugural Essex Street Chapel under Rev. Theophilus Lindsey when founded in 1774. Grafton had associated with a number of liberal Anglican theologians when at Cambridge, devoted much time to theological study and writing after leaving office as Prime Minister. In 1773 in the House of Lords he supported a bill to release Anglican clergy from subscribing to all the Thirty Nine Articles. He became an advocate of moral reformation among the upper classes and of liturgical reform. He was author of:

He was a sponsor of Richard Watson's Consideration of the Expediency of Revising the Liturgy and Article of the Church of England (published 1790) and he funded the printing of 700 copies of Griesbach's edition of the Greek New Testament in 1796.[5]

Legacy

Grafton County, New Hampshire,[6] in the United States, is named in his honour, as are the towns of Grafton, New South Wales, Australia, the town of Grafton, New York, the unincorporated community of Grafton, Virginia, and possibly the township (since 1856 a city) of Grafton, West Virginia. The Grafton Centre Shopping Mall in Cambridge is also named after him, and indeed lies on Fitzroy Street. Cape Grafton in Far North Queensland was named after him by Lieutenant James Cook during his first voyage of discovery.

Family

On 29 January 1756, he married The Hon. Anne Liddell (1737–1804), daughter of the Henry Liddell, 4th Baronet Ravensworth, 1708-1784. They had three children:

After the Duchess had become pregnant by her lover, the Earl of Upper Ossory, she and the Duke were divorced by Act of Parliament, passed 23 March 1769. Three months later, on 24 June 1769, the Duke married Elizabeth Wrottesley (1 November 1745 – 25 May 1822), daughter of the Reverend Sir Richard Wrottesley, Dean of Worcester.[9] They had the following children:

Grafton was thus the first British Prime Minister, before Sir Anthony Eden,[10] to be divorced and the second, after Sir Robert Walpole, to marry while in office.

The Duke of Grafton's Government

Main article: Grafton Ministry

Titles from birth to death

References

Notes
  1. ↑ http://thepeerage.com/p1040.htm#i10395
  2. ↑ "Fitzory, Augustus Henry (FTSY751AH)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  3. ↑  "Fitzroy, Augustus Henry". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
  4. 1 2 Public Domain One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Grafton, Dukes of". Encyclopædia Britannica. 12 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 317.
  5. ↑ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Volume 19. Oxford University Press. 2004. p. 928. ISBN 0-19-861369-5.Article by Peter Durrant.
  6. ↑ Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. Govt. Print. Off. p. 140.
  7. ↑ Romney, George. "Portrait of Lady Georgina Smyth and her son 1780c.". Philip Mould Historical Portraits Image Library. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016.
  8. ↑ Chisholm 1911.
  9. ↑ Hellicar 1978, p. 28
  10. ↑ Eden's divorce was in 1950 and he remarried in 1952, prior to reaching office as Prime Minister.
Bibliography
  • Hellicar, Eileen (1978). Prime Ministers of Britain. David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-7486-9{{inconsistent citations}} 

External links

Political offices
Preceded by
The Earl of Sandwich		 Secretary of State for the Northern Department
1765–1766 		Succeeded by
Henry Seymour Conway
Preceded by
The Marquess of Rockingham		 First Lord of the Treasury
1766–1770 		Succeeded by
Lord North
Leader of the House of Lords
1766–1770 		Succeeded by
The Viscount Weymouth
Preceded by
The Earl of Chatham		 Prime Minister of Great Britain
14 October 1768 – 28 January 1770 		Succeeded by
Lord North
Preceded by
The Earl of Suffolk and Berkshire		 Lord Privy Seal
1771–1775 		Succeeded by
The Earl of Dartmouth
Preceded by
The Earl of Dartmouth		 Lord Privy Seal
1782–1783 		Succeeded by
The Earl of Carlisle
Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by
William Murray
Sir Cecil Bisshopp, Bt		 Member of Parliament for Boroughbridge
1756–1757
Served alongside: Sir Cecil Bisshopp, Bt		 Succeeded by
Sir Cecil Bisshopp, Bt
Thomas Thoroton
Preceded by
Viscount Petersham
Felton Hervey		 Member of Parliament for Bury St Edmunds
1756–1757
Served alongside: Felton Hervey		 Succeeded by
Felton Hervey
Augustus Hervey
Honorary titles
Preceded by
The Duke of Grafton		 Lord Lieutenant of Suffolk
1757–1763 		Succeeded by
The Lord Maynard
Preceded by
The Viscount Maynard		 Lord Lieutenant of Suffolk
1769–1790 		Succeeded by
Earl of Euston
Preceded by
Lord North		 Oldest living Prime Minister of Great Britain
1792–1800 		Acts of Union 1800 merged
Great Britain and Ireland
to form the United Kingdom
New title
 Oldest living Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
1801–1811 		Succeeded by
The Viscount Sidmouth
Academic offices
Preceded by
The Duke of Newcastle		 Chancellor of the University of Cambridge
1768–1811 		Succeeded by
The Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh
Peerage of England
Preceded by
Charles FitzRoy		 Duke of Grafton
1757–1811 		Succeeded by
George FitzRoy
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