Charles FitzRoy, 10th Duke of Grafton

Charles Alfred Euston FitzRoy, 10th Duke of Grafton (4 June 1892 – 11 November 1970), known as Charles FitzRoy until 1936, was a British aristocrat, soldier, and farmer.

Background and education

FitzRoy was born at Euston Hall near Thetford, the eldest son of the Reverend Lord Charles Edward FitzRoy and of his wife Ismay FitzRoy, daughter of Charles FitzRoy, 3rd Baron Southampton. His paternal grandparents were Augustus FitzRoy, 7th Duke of Grafton and Anna Balfour. Another ancestor, Anne Warren, was the daughter of Adml. Sir Peter Warren and a descendant of the Schuyler family, the Van Cortlandt family, and the Delancey family, all from British North America.[1]

He was educated at Wellington and then at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.

Military career

In 1911 FitzRoy joined the Royal Welch Fusiliers, who were stationed at Quetta in what is now Pakistan. In 1914, soon after the outbreak of the Great War, he went to France, and in 1917 he was appointed as aide-de-camp and comptroller to Lord Buxton, Governor General of South Africa. He remained in South Africa until 1920. In 1921 he retired from the army.

Farming

FitzRoy became a farmer at Coney Weston in Suffolk. From 1927 to 1936 he was land agent for his first wife's maternal uncle[2] Owen Hugh Smith at Langham in Rutland. In 1936 he succeeded his cousin as Duke of Grafton and inherited the family estates based on Euston Hall.

Family

Grafton married, firstly, Lady Doreen Maria Josepha Sydney Buxton (29 November 1897 – 28 July 1923), daughter of his commanding officer Lord Buxton, on 24 January 1918. They had three children:

A year after his first wife's death, Grafton married, secondly, Lucy Eleanor Barnes (25 December 1897 – 11 September 1943), daughter of Sir George Stapylton Barnes and of his wife Sybil de Gournay Buxton. The ceremony took place on 6 October 1924. Lucy was the first cousin of Charles' first wife Doreen. Charles and Lucy had two children:

The year after his second wife's death, Grafton married, thirdly, Rita Emily Carr-Ellison (24 October 1911 – 24 August 1970), daughter of John Ralph Carr-Ellison and of his wife Alice Ursula Lang. The ceremony took place on 18 July 1944. Grafton died at Bury St Edmunds.

References

  1. ↑ ThePeerage.com page 245/ http://www.thepeerage.com/p245.htm#i2443 Accessed March 14, 2015.
  2. ↑ Hugh Colin Smith's daughter was Mildred Anne Smith (d 1955), wife of the 1st Earl Buxton and mother of Lady Doreen (below). Her youngest brother was Owen Hugh Smith (1869-1958).

External links

Peerage of England
Preceded by
John FitzRoy		 Duke of Grafton
1936–1970 		Succeeded by
Hugh FitzRoy
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