Peter Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, 8th Earl Fitzwilliam

The Earl FitzWilliam
Born	31 December 1910
Died	13 May 1948 (aged 37)
Spouse(s)	Olive Dorothea Plunket
Children	Lady Juliet Tadgell
Parent(s)	William Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, 7th Earl Fitzwilliam Lady Maud Dundas

William Henry Lawrence Peter Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, 8th Earl Fitzwilliam, DSO (31 December 1910 – 13 May 1948), styled Viscount Milton before 1943, was a British soldier and aristocrat.

Biography

The fifth child and only son of the 7th Earl Fitzwilliam, he was born at the family's seat of Wentworth Woodhouse and died in an aircraft accident over Saint-Bauzile, Ardèche, France.

Marriage and issue

He was married, on 19 April 1933, to Olive Dorothea "Obby" Plunket (d. 1975) (the daughter of Benjamin Plunket, Bishop of Tuam, Killala and Achonry, and thereby granddaughter of the 4th Baron Plunket, Archbishop of Dublin), with whom he had one daughter:

• Lady Anne Juliet Dorothea Maud Wentworth-Fitzwilliam (b. 24 January 1935). She married firstly (1960) the 6th Marquess of Bristol (1915–1985) (divorced 1972); secondly (1974) as his fourth wife Somerset de Chair, of Bourne Park, nr Canterbury (22 August 1911 – 5 January 1995^[1] / buried January 1996),^[2] son of Admiral Sir Dudley de Chair; thirdly (1996) to Christopher Tadgell. She is now known as Lady Juliet Tadgell. Her children are:
  • Lord Frederick William Charles Nicholas Wentworth Hervey (26 November 1961 – 26 January 1998)
  • Lady Ann Hervey (b & d. 24 February 1965), stillborn
  • Helena de Chair (b. 1977) writer on a trade magazine for the oil industry; who married 13 January 2007 Canterbury Cathedral^[3] Hon. Jacob Rees-Mogg (b. 24 May 1969), son of William Rees-Mogg, once publisher of The Times.
    • Peter Theodore Alphoge Rees-Mogg (b. mid-October 2007 Chelsea & Westminster Hospital, London)^[4]
    • Mary Anne Charlotte Emma Rees-Mogg (b.16 Nov 2008)
    • Thomas Wentworth Somerset Dunstan Rees-Mogg (b. 8 Jun 2010)
    • Anslem Charles Fitzwilliam Rees-Mogg (b. 22 June 2012)
    • Alfred Wulfric Leyson Pius (b. 22 Feb 2016)

In Lord Fitzwilliam's later years the marriage to Obby became strained. At the time of his death, he was seeking a divorce in order to marry someone else.^[5] In 1943 he inherited the Earldom from his father.

Service

As a former Cadet with the Eton College Contingent (June Division) Officer Training Corps he was commissioned second lieutenant into the Royal Scots Greys (Supplementary Reserve of Officers) on 20 July 1929.^[6] During World War II he served with distinction in the Commandos and later for the Special Operations Executive, gaining a Distinguished Service Order.

Death

He died in France in a plane crash on 13 May 1948.

From 1946 he was romantically linked with the widowed Kathleen Cavendish, Marchioness of Hartington, sister of future U.S. President John F. Kennedy. She was killed with Fitzwilliam in the crash, although the nature their relationship was obscured in the newspaper accounts at the time.^[5]

At his death the title passed to his second cousin once removed, Eric Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, and his fortune, then estimated at 45 million pounds, which included half of the Wentworth Woodhouse estate, the Coolattin estate in County Wicklow, Ireland, and a considerable part of the Fitzwilliam art collection, passed to his daughter, the present Lady Juliet Tadgell.

Popular culture

• Fitzwilliam is portrayed by Thomas Gibson in the television mini-series The Kennedys of Massachusetts (1990).
• Fitzwilliam is portrayed by Larry Carter in the film Lives and Deaths of the Poets (2011).

Ancestry

Ancestors of Peter Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, 8th Earl Fitzwilliam

16. Charles Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, 5th Earl Fitzwilliam               8. William Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, 6th Earl Fitzwilliam                       17. Hon. Mary Dundas               4. William Wentworth-FitzWilliam, Viscount Milton                             18. George Douglas, 17th Earl of Morton               9. Lady Frances Douglas                       19. Frances Rose               2. William Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, 7th Earl Fitzwilliam                                   20. William Beauclerk, 8th Duke of St Albans               10. Lord Charles Beauclerk                       21. Maria Nelthorpe               5. Laura Beauclerk                             22. Edward Stopford               11. Laura Stopford                       23. Horatia Lockwood               1. Peter Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, 8th Earl Fitzwilliam                                         24. Lawrence Dundas, 1st Earl of Zetland               12. Hon. John Dundas                       25. Harriot Hale               6. Lawrence Dundas, 1st Marquess of Zetland                             26. James Talbot               13. Margaret Talbot                       ?               3. Lady Maud Dundas                                   28. Frederick Lumley               14. Richard Lumley, 9th Earl of Scarbrough                       29. Charlotte Beresford               7. Lady Lilian Lumley                             30. Andrew Drummond               15. Frederica Drummond                       31. Lady Elizabeth Manners

Notes

1. His dates vary widely. One date is 1912–1996; another is 22 August 1911 – 5 January 1995; yet other states his death date as 5 January 1996.
2. "Death of a self-confessed heterosexual" The Independent (London), 15 January 1996.
3. Description of the wedding and here
4. "A sprog for Rees-Mogg", Daily Mail, 17 October 2007.
5. Storey, Kate (27 April 2016). "Inside the Scandalous Life of JFK's Sister, Kick Kennedy". Esquire. Hearst Communications. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
6. The London Gazette: no. 33518. p. 4767. 19 July 1929.

References

• Lundy, Darryl. "#46395 (Peter)". The Peerage. External link in |publisher= (help)
• Lundy, Darryl. "#40404 (Olive)". The Peerage. External link in |publisher= (help)

External links

• Peter Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, 8th Earl Fitzwilliam