Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Grafton

The Duke of Grafton

Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Grafton KG (28 September 1663 – 9 October 1690) was the illegitimate son of King Charles II of England by Barbara Villiers, Countess of Castlemaine.

On 1 August 1672 he was married at the age of nine to the five-year-old Isabella, the daughter and heiress of Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington. The wedding ceremony was repeated on 7 November 1679. They were parents to Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Grafton. Diana, Princess of Wales was one of his descendants.

At the time of his marriage, Henry was created Baron Sudbury, Viscount Ipswich, and Earl of Euston; in 1675 he was created Duke of Grafton. Charles II made him a Knight of the Garter in 1680. He was made a colonel of the Grenadier Guards in 1681.

He was brought up as a sailor, and saw military service at the siege of Luxembourg in 1684. In that year, he received a warrant to supersede Sir Robert Holmes as Governor of the Isle of Wight, when the latter was charged with making false musters. However, Holmes was acquitted by court-martial and retained the governorship. In 1686 he killed John Talbot, brother of the Earl of Shrewsbury, in a duel.

At King James II's coronation Grafton was Lord High Constable. During the rebellion of the Duke of Monmouth he commanded the royal troops in Somerset; but later he acted with John Churchill, and joined William of Orange to overthrow the King in the Revolution of 1688.

He died in 1690 of a wound received at the storming of Cork while leading William's forces. He was 27. In October 1697 his widow married Sir Thomas Hanmer, a young Buckinghamshire baronet.

Ancestry

Family of Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Grafton

16. Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley               8. James I of England                       17. Mary, Queen of Scots               4. Charles I of England                             18. Frederick II of Denmark               9. Anne of Denmark                       19. Sofie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin               2. Charles II of England                                   20. Antoine of Navarre               10. Henry IV of France                       21. Jeanne III of Navarre               5. Henrietta Maria of France                             22. Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany               11. Marie de' Medici                       23. Johanna of Austria               1. Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Grafton                                         24. George Villiers               12. Edward Villiers                       25. Audrey Saunders               6. William Villiers, 2nd Viscount Grandison                             26. John St. John               13. Barbara St. John                       27. Lucy Hungerford               3. Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Cleveland                                   28. Paul Bayning               14. Paul Bayning, 1st Viscount Bayning                       29. Susanna Norden               7. Mary Bayning                             30. Henry Glemham               15. Anne Glemham                       31. Anne Sackville

Legacy

The Duke of Grafton owned land in what was then the countryside near Dublin, Ireland, which later became part of the city. A country lane on this land eventually developed into Grafton Street, one of Dublin's main streets.

See also

• List of deserters from James II to William of Orange

References

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Political offices
Preceded by The Duke of Cumberland	Vice-Admiral of England 1682–1689	Succeeded by The Earl of Torrington
Honorary titles
Vacant Title last held by The Earl of Northumberland	Lord High Constable of England 1685	Vacant Title next held by The Duke of Ormonde
Preceded by The Earl of Arlington	Lord Lieutenant of Suffolk 1685–1689	Succeeded by The Lord Cornwallis
Military offices
Preceded by John Russell	Colonel of the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards 1681–1688	Succeeded by The Earl of Lichfield
Preceded by The Earl of Lichfield	Colonel of the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards 1688–1689	Succeeded by Henry Sydney
Peerage of England
New creation	Duke of Grafton 1675–1690	Succeeded by Charles FitzRoy
	Earl of Euston 1672–1690