Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VII.djvu/253

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FITZGERALD FITZROY 245 FITZGERALD. I. Edward, lord, an Irish sol- dier and politician, fifth son of the first duke of Leinster, born near Dublin, Oct. 15, 1763, died June 4, 1798. He was in part educated in France, entered the British army, and distin- guished himself as aide-de-camp to Lord Raw- don in the latter part of the American revolu- tionary war, and was severely wounded in the battle of Eutaw Springs. After sitting for some time in the Irish house of commons, and travelling on the continent, he rejoined his regiment in Canada. He returned to Ireland in 1790, and was again elected to the Irish parliament. In 1792 he visited Paris, where lie became associated with some of the leading revolutionists. At a banquet given by Eng- lishmen in Paris, he publicly renounced his nobility, and proposed a toast to the success of the republican arms, and was consequently dismissed from the British army. He then re- turned to Dublin, joined the society of United Irishmen, of which he was made president in 1796, encouraged other political and military organizations, defending them in the Irish par- liament, and negotiated with the French di- rectory, till a warrant was issued by govern- ment for his apprehension. He refused to abandon his associates, but secretly directed the revolutionists from a place of concealment in Dublin after the other principal leaders had been arrested, and was at length discovered and captured after a desperate struggle. He was severely wounded, and died in prison. His biography was written by Thomas Moore (2 vols. 8vo, London, 1831). II. Pamela, lady, wife of the preceding, reputed daughter of Mme. de Genlis and Philippe duke of Orleans (Egalite), died in Paris in November, 1831. She was educated with the children of the duke of Orleans, being reported an English orphan. She was married to Lord Fitzgerald at Tournay in 1790, and after his death to Mr. Pitcairn, American consul at Hamburg. A separation ensued, and she resumed the name of Fitzgerald, and lived in retirement at Mon- tauban till 1830, when Louis Philippe, the asso- ciate of her childhood, being called to the throne of France, she went to Paris. The king refused to receive her, and she died poor. FITZHERBERT. I. Sir Anthony, an English lawyer and jurist, born in Norbury, Derby- shire, died in 1538. After a distinguished career at the bar, he was appointed in 1523 a justice of the court of common pleas, and held that office until his death. He was the author of a work in old French, which is of great authority in the law, entitled Le graunde abridgement collecte par le judge tres reverend, monsieur Anthony Fitz-Herbert (printed by Pynson in 1514, by Wynkin de Worde in 1516, and again in 1577). Among his other works on legal subjects was " The Office and Author- ity ,,f Justices of the Peace" (1538, often re- printed ; last ed., 1617), and " The New Natura im" (1534; last ed., 1794, with a com- mentary attributed to Chief Justice Hale, and notes and references). His "New Treatyse for all Husbandemen" (4to, London, 1523J passed through more than 20 editions. II, Thomas, a learned English Jesuit, grandson of the preceding, born at Swinnerton, Stafford- shire, in 1552, died in Rome in 1640. After various fruitless attempts to induce the Roman Catholic powers of Europe to aid the Roman Catholics of England, he entered the society of the Jesuits, and for the last 22 years of Lis life presided over the English college at Rome. He wrote a number of treatises of a religious and controversial character. FITZHERBERT, Maria, wife of George IV. of England, born in July, 1756, died in Brighton, March 29, 1837. Her father, Waller Smythe of Brambridge, Hampshire, was of an old Catholic family, and she was married succes- sively to Edward Weld of Dorset and Thomas Fitzherbert of Stafford, being left a widow a second time in 1781. In 1785 the prince of Wales, afterward George IV., first saw her, and in December of that year they were pri- vately married by a clergyman of the estab- lished church, in the presence of witnesses. The union, being contrary to the English stat- ute, which prohibits marriage between a sub- ject and a prince of the blood royal, was not valid in law. Subsequently the prince con- tracted a legal marriage with the princess Caroline of Brunswick; but after his quarrel with Queen Caroline he returned to Mrs. Fitz- herbert. His excesses, however, compelled her to leave him, and she retired to Brighton, where she passed the remainder of her life, re- ceiving a large pension from the government. See " Memoirs of Mrs. Fitzherbert," by the Hon. Charles Langdale (Londoa, 1856). FITZROY, Robert, a British admiral, born at Ampton Hall, Suffolk, July 5, 1805, died April 30, 1865. He entered the navy in 1819, and obtained his first commission Sept. 7, 1824. After serving on the Mediterra- nean and South American stations, he was appointed in 1828 to the command of one of the vessels which had been sent by the gov- ernment, under Capt. King, upon an expedition to explore and survey the coasts of Patagonia,. Chili, and Peru. In 1831 the Beagle, under his command, was fitted out for another sur- veying expedition. Charles Darwin accompa- nied this expedition as naturalist, and after its return in 1836 published a journal of the researches made upon it into the geology and natural history of the countries visited. In 1841 Capt. Fitzroy represented the city of Durham in parliament, and in the following year was appointed acting conservator of the river Mersey. In 1843 he became governor and commander-in-chief of the colony of New Zealand, which offices he held for three years. In 1854 he was placed at the head of the me- teorological department of the board of trade, in 1857 was appointed rear admiral, and in 1863 vice admiral. In 1862 he established a system of storm warnings. He committed