Lord Edward FitzGerald
From Dittopedia
The Lord Edward FitzGerald (15 October 1763 - 4 June 1798) was an Irish aristocrat and revolutionary. He was the fifth son of the 1st Duke of Leinster and Lady Emily Lennox, and was born at Carton House, near Dublin.
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Early years
Lord Edward FitzGerald spent most of his childhood in Frescati House at Black Rock in Dublin where he was tutored by William Ogilvie in a manner inspired by Rousseau's Emile.
He joined the British Army in 1779, and fought on the staff of Lord Rawdon in the American Revolutionary War. He was seriously wounded at the Battle of Eutaw Springs, his life being saved by a black man named Tony, whom Lord Edward retained in his service till the end of his life.
In 1783 FitzGerald returned to Ireland, where his brother, the 2nd Duke of Leinster, had procured his election to the Irish Parliament as Member for Kildare. In Parliament he acted with the small Opposition group led by Henry Grattan, but took no prominent part in debate. After spending a short time at Woolwich to complete his military education, he made a tour through Spain in 1787; and then, dejected by unrequited love for his cousin Georgina Lennox (who later married the 3rd Earl Bathurst), he sailed for New Brunswick to join the 54th Regiment with the rank of Major.
In the New World
The love-sick mood and romantic temperament of the young Irishman found congenial soil in the wild surroundings of unexplored Canadian forests, and the enthusiasm thus engendered for the "natural" life of savagery may have been already fortified by study of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's writings, for which at a later period Lord Edward expressed his admiration. In February 1789, guided by compass, he traversed the country, practically unknown to white men, from Fredericton, New Brunswick to Quebec, falling in with Indians by the way, with whom he fraternized; and in a subsequent expedition he was formally adopted at Detroit by the Bear tribe of Hurons as one of their chiefs, and made his way down the Mississippi to New Orleans, whence he returned to England.
Enters politics
Finding that his brother had procured his election for the County of Kildare, and desiring to maintain political independence, Lord Edward refused the command of an expedition against Cadiz offered him by William Pitt the Younger, and devoted himself for the next few years to the pleasures of society and his parliamentary duties. He was on terms of intimacy with his relative Charles James Fox, with Richard Brinsley Sheridan and other leading Whigs. According to Thomas Moore, Lord Edward FitzGerald was the only one of the numerous suitors of Sheridan's first wife whose attentions were received with favour; and it is certain that, whatever may have been its limits, a warm mutual affection subsisted between the two.
Wedding in France
His Whig connections combined with his transatlantic experiences to predispose Lord Edward to sympathize with the doctrines of the French Revolution, which he embraced with ardour when he visited Paris in October 1792. He lodged with Thomas Paine, and listened to the debates in the Convention. At a convivial gathering on the 18 November he supported a toast to "the speedy abolition of all hereditary titles and feudal distinctions", and gave proof of his zeal by expressly repudiating his own title, a performance for which he was dismissed from the army.
While in Paris, FitzGerald and Pamela were married at Tournay, one of the witnesses being Louis Philippe, afterwards King of the French; and in January 1793 the couple reached Dublin. The couple eventually had a son and two daughters.
Arrest
(For a description of the events leading up to his arrest, refer to Wikipedia.) Edward's treacherous involvement led to tragedy, and he was shot by soldiers while resisting arrest. He was conveyed to Newgate Prison, and denied proper medical treatment where he died of his wounds as the Irish Rebellion of 1798 raged outside on the 4th June 1798. An Act of Attainder confiscating his property was passed but was repealed in 1819.
Reference
- 1. Wikipedia
- 2. Burchett, P. 1984. A Historical Sketch of THAMES DITTON. Surrey: Thames Ditton and Weston Green Residents' Association. ISBN 0-904-81120-4.
Calendar 4/11-Nov
Categories: Hanoverian | 1763 | 1798 | 1792 | Oct-15 | Jun-4
