James FitzGerald, 1st Duke of Leinster

Lieutenant-General James FitzGerald, 1st Duke of Leinster, PC (Ire), 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 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 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, he was created Viscount Leinster, of Taplow in the County of Buckingham, in the Peerage of Great Britain, and took his seat in the British House of Lords 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 Lieutenant-General in 1770.
In 1761 Lord Kildare was created Earl of Offaly and Marquess of Kildare in the Peerage of Ireland 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, daughter of Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond and one of the famous Lennox 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. The couple had nineteen children:

George FitzGerald, Earl of Offaly.
William FitzGerald, 2nd Duke of Leinster.
Lady Caroline FitzGerald.
Lady Emily Mary FitzGerald, married Charles Coote, 1st Earl of Bellomont and Baron Coote of Coolony. The couple had five children, one son who died young and four daughters. Emily died in Penzance, Cornwall in 1818 after a lingering illness.
Lady Henrietta FitzGerald.
Lady Caroline FitzGerald.
Charles FitzGerald, 1st Baron Lecale.
Lady Charlotte Mary Gertrude FitzGerald, married Joseph Strutt and was made first Baroness Rayleigh. Had issue.
Lady Louisa Bridget FitzGerald.
Lord Henry FitzGerald, general; married Charlotte Boyle and had issue, who take by inheritance the surname "de Ros".
Lady Sophia Sarah Mary FitzGerald.
Lord Edward FitzGerald, revolutionary and prominent leader of the United Irishmen during the 1798 rising.
Lord Robert Stephen FitzGerald, a diplomat; married Sophia Charlotte Fielding and had issue.
Lord Gerald FitzGerald. Drowned, went down with the ship in which he was serving.
Lord Augustus FitzGerald.
Lady Fanny FitzGerald.
Lady Lucy Anne FitzGerald, 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.
Lord George Simon FitzGerald. 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, Dublin, in November 1773, aged 51, and was buried in the city's Christ Church Cathedral. He was succeeded by his second 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 London in March 1814, aged 82.

Popular culture

In 1999, Irish Screen, BBC America 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.