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His GraceThe Duke of GraftonKG PC
Portrait by Nathaniel Dance-Holland
Prime Minister of Great Britain
In office 14 October 1768 – 28 January 1770
Monarch	George III
Preceded by	The Earl of Chatham
Succeeded by	Lord North
Northern Secretary
In office 12 July 1765 – 14 May 1766
Prime Minister	The Marquess of Rockingham
Preceded by	The Earl of Halifax
Succeeded by	Henry Seymour Conway
Personal details
Born	Augustus Henry FitzRoy (1735-09-28)28 September 1735
Died	14 March 1811(1811-03-14) (aged 75) Euston, Suffolk, England
Resting place	St Genevieve Churchyard, Euston, Suffolk, England
Political party	Whig
Spouses	Anne Liddell ​ ​(m. 1756; div. 1769)​ Elizabeth Wrottesley ​ ​(m. 1769)​
Children	12; including George, William and John
Parent	Lord Augustus FitzRoy (father)
Alma mater	Peterhouse, Cambridge
Signature

Augustus Henry FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton (28 September 1735 – 14 March 1811), styled Earl of Euston between 1747 and 1757, was a British Whig statesman of the Georgian era. He is one of a handful of dukes who have served as prime minister.

He became prime minister in 1768 at the age of 33, leading the supporters of William Pitt, and was the youngest person to hold the office until the appointment of William Pitt the Younger 15 years later. However, he struggled to demonstrate an ability to counter increasing challenges to Britain's global dominance following the nation's victory in the Seven Years' War. He was widely attacked for allowing France to annex Corsica, and stepped down in 1770, handing over power to Lord North.

Background and education

He was a son of Lord Augustus FitzRoy, a captain in the Royal Navy, and Elizabeth Cosby, the daughter of Colonel William Cosby, who served as a colonial Governor of New York. Lord Augustus was the third son of the 2nd Duke of Grafton and Lady Henrietta Somerset, which made FitzRoy a great-grandson of both the 1st Duke of Grafton and the Marquess of Worcester. He was notably a fourth-generation descendant of King Charles II and the 1st Duchess of Cleveland; the surname FitzRoy stems from this illegitimacy. His younger brother was the 1st Baron Southampton. Following the death of his uncle in 1747, he was styled Earl of Euston as his grandfather's heir apparent.

Lord Euston was educated at Newcome's School in Hackney and at Westminster School, made the Grand Tour, and obtained a degree at Peterhouse, University of Cambridge.

Political career

In 1756, he entered Parliament as MP for Boroughbridge, a pocket borough; several months later, he switched constituencies to Bury St Edmunds, which was controlled by his family. However, a year later, his grandfather died, and he succeeded as the 3rd Duke of Grafton, which elevated him to the House of Lords.

He first became known in politics as an opponent of Lord Bute, a favourite of King George III. Grafton aligned himself with the Duke of Newcastle against Lord Bute, whose term as prime minister was short-lived largely because it was felt that the peace terms to which he had agreed at the Treaty of Paris were not a sufficient return for Britain's performance in the Seven Years' War.

In 1765, Grafton was appointed a Privy Counsellor; then, following discussions with William Pitt the Elder, he was appointed Northern Secretary in Lord Rockingham's first government. However, Rockingham retired the following year, and Pitt (by then Lord Chatham) formed a ministry in which Grafton was First Lord of the Treasury but not the prime minister.

On 20 September 1769, he was appointed a Knight of the Order of the Garter.

Prime minister

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Chatham's illness, at the end of 1767, resulted in Grafton becoming the government's effective leader (he is credited with entering the office of prime minister in 1768), but political differences, the impact of the Corsican Crisis and the attacks of "Junius" led to his resignation in January 1770. Also, in 1768, Grafton became Chancellor of Cambridge University. He became Lord Privy Seal in Lord North's ministry (1771) but resigned in 1775, being in favour of conciliatory action towards the American colonists. In the second Rockingham ministry of 1782, he was again Lord Privy Seal and continued in the post in the following Shelburne ministry until March 1783.

Militia career

Grafton was a strong supporter of moves to reform the militia during the Seven Years' War, and as Lord Lieutenant of Suffolk his county was one of the first to raise its quota, in two regiments on 27 April 1759. He soon took personal command of the West Suffolk Militia as its Colonel. The militia remained on active service until 1762. The militia was called out again after the outbreak of the War of American Independence when Britain was threatened with invasion by the Americans' allies, France and Spain. On 26 March 1778, Grafton was ordered to embody the two regiments once more. In that summer, the West Suffolks under Grafton formed part of a concentration at Coxheath Camp, near Maidstone in Kent, which was the army's largest training camp. The duke was chosen to train the grenadier companies of all the battalions in camp, and he worked them hard, 7–8 hours a day. Observers of the camp noted that the discipline of the West Suffolk Militia under Grafton was especially good. He resigned his commission on grounds of ill-health in February 1780, and his 20-year-old son and heir, George, Earl of Euston, succeeded him as colonel of the West Suffolk Militia.

Religious interests

In later years Grafton was a prominent Unitarian, being one of the early members of the inaugural Essex Street Chapel under Rev. Theophilus Lindsey when it was founded in 1774. Grafton had associated with a number of liberal Anglican theologians when at Cambridge, and devoted much time to theological study and writing after leaving office as prime minister. In 1773, in the House of Lords, he supported a bill to release Anglican clergy from subscribing to all the Thirty-nine Articles. He became a supporter of moral reform among the wealthy and of changes to the church. He was the author of:

• Hints Submitted to the Serious Attention of the Clergy, Nobility and Gentry, by a Layman (1789).
• Serious Reflections of a Rational Christian from 1788–1797.

He was a sponsor of Richard Watson's Consideration of the Expediency of Revising the Liturgy and Articles of the Church of England (published in 1790), and he funded the printing of 700 copies of Griesbach's edition of the Greek New Testament in 1796.

Horseracing

The Duke also had horse racing interests. His racing colours were sky blue, with a black cap.

Legacy

Grafton County, New Hampshire, in the United States, is named in his honour, as is the city of Grafton, New South Wales, Australia, the town of Grafton, New York, the unincorporated community of Grafton, Virginia, and possibly the township (since 1856 a city) of Grafton, West Virginia. The Grafton Centre Shopping Mall in Cambridge is also named after him and indeed lies on Fitzroy Street. Cape Grafton in Far North Queensland was named after him by Lieutenant James Cook during his first voyage of discovery.

Grafton had the longest post-premiership of any prime minister in British history, totalling 41 years and 45 days.

Family

On 29 January 1756, he married The Hon. Anne Liddell, daughter of Henry Liddell, 1st Baron Ravensworth (1708–1784), at Lord Ravensworth's house in St James's Square, by licence. The marriage was witnessed by Lord Ravensworth and Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Earl of Hertford.

Augustus and Anne had three children:

• Lady Georgiana FitzRoy (8 May 1757 – 18 January 1799), who married John Smyth (12 February 1748 – 12 February 1811) on 4 June 1778.
• George Henry FitzRoy, 4th Duke of Grafton (1760–1844)
• General Lord Charles FitzRoy (14 July 1764 – 20 December 1829), who married, firstly, Frances Mundy (1773 – 9 August 1797) on 20 June 1795, and had one son. He married, secondly, Lady Frances Stewart (24 June 1777 – 9 February 1810) on 10 March 1799 and had three children. His sons Sir Charles FitzRoy (1796–1858), governor of New South Wales, and Robert FitzRoy, the hydrographer, were notable for their achievements.

In 1764, the Duke had a very public affair with the courtesan Nancy Parsons whom he kept at his townhouse and took to the opera, where they allegedly were found in flagrante delicto. This brazen lack of convention offended society's standards. After the Duchess had become pregnant by her own lover, the Earl of Upper Ossory, she and the Duke were divorced by Act of Parliament, passed 23 March 1769. Three months later, on 24 June 1769, the Duke married Elizabeth Wrottesley (1 November 1745 – 25 May 1822), daughter of the Reverend Sir Richard Wrottesley, Dean of Worcester. They had the following children:

• Lord Henry FitzRoy (9 April 1770 – 7 June 1828), clergyman; he married Caroline Pigot (died 1 January 1835) on 10 September 1800 and had five children. Ancestor of Daisy Greville, Countess of Warwick.
• Lord Frederick FitzRoy (born 16 September 1774; died young).
• Lady Augusta FitzRoy (1779 – 29 June 1839), who married Rev. George F. Tavel (died 1829) on 19 November 1811.
• Lady Frances FitzRoy (1 June 1780 – 7 January 1866), who married the 1st Baron Churchill on 25 November 1800.
• Admiral Lord William FitzRoy (1 June 1782 – 13 May 1857), who married Georgiana Raikes (died 2 December 1861) in 1816 and had two children.
• Lord John Edward FitzRoy (24 September 1785 – 28 December 1856), MP, died unmarried.
• Lady Charlotte FitzRoy (died 23 June 1857).
• Lady Elizabeth FitzRoy (died 13 March 1839), who married her cousin Lt. Gen. The Hon. William FitzRoy (1773–1837), son of the 1st Baron Southampton, on 4 July 1811.
• Lady Isabella FitzRoy (died 10 December 1866), who married Barrington Pope Blachford (3 December 1783 – 14 May 1816) on 11 August 1812.

Grafton is thus the first British prime minister before Anthony Eden (and one of only three) to have been divorced, and the second, after Robert Walpole, to marry while in office. Grafton would be the only prime minister to divorce and remarry while in office until Boris Johnson in 2021. FitzRoy died on 14 March 1811.

Arms

Coat of arms of Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton

Crest On a Chapeau Gules doubled Ermine a Lion statant guardant Or crowned with a ducal-coronet Azure and gorged with a Collar countercompony Argent and of the Fourth Escutcheon Royal arms of King Charles II (differenced), viz: grandquarterly, 1st and 4th, France and England quarterly; 2nd, Scotland; 3rd, Ireland; the whole debruised by a Baton sinister compony of six pieces Argent and Azure Motto Et decus et pretium recti (By Grace, the prize of rectitude)

Cabinet of the Duke of Grafton

Notes

1. "Fitzory, Augustus Henry (FTSY751AH)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
2. "Fitzroy, Augustus Henry" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
3. ^  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Grafton, Dukes of s.v. Augustus Henry Fitzroy". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 12 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 317.
4. Institute of Historical Research. "The University of Cambridge: Chancellors". British History Online. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
5. Webb, pp. 424–429.
6. Western, p. 124; Appendix A.
7. Herbert, Charles (1967). "Coxheath Camp, 1778—1779". Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research. 45 (183): 129–148. JSTOR 44226981.
8. Durrant 2004, p. 928.
9. Weatherby, Edward and James (1801). "COLOURS WORN BY THE RIDERS OF THE FOLLOWING NOBLEMEN, GENTLEMEN, &c". Racing Calendar. 28: 52.
10. Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 140.
11. Shipman, Tim (10 December 2022). "Liz still thinks Trussonomics was right and she's selling her message in America". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 11 December 2022. The Duke of Grafton, who retired in 1770 aged 34 and lived for another 41 years, was both the youngest prime ministerial retiree and had the longest post-premiership.
12. The Register of Marriages solemnized in the Parish Church of St James within the Liberty of Westminster & County of Middlesex. 1754–1765. No. 406. 29 January 1756.
13. "Portrait of Lady Georgina Smyth and her son 1780c". Historical Portraits Image Library. Philip Mould Fine Paintings. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016.
14. The Register of Births & Baptisms in the Parish of St James within the Liberty of Westminster Vol. IV. 1741–1760. 5 June 1757.
15. Chisholm 1911.
16. "Anne Fitzpatrick". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/88658. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
17. Durrant 2004.
18. Hellicar 1978, p. 28
19. Eden's divorce was in 1950 and he remarried in 1952, prior to reaching office as prime minister.
20. Shearing, Hazel & Kathryn Snowdon (30 May 2021). "Boris Johnson marries Carrie Symonds at Westminster Cathedral". BBC News. Retrieved 31 May 2021.

Bibliography

• Durrant, Peter (2004). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 19. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-861369-5.
• Lt-Col E.A.H. Webb, History of the 12th (The Suffolk) Regiment 1685–1913, London: Spottiswoode, 1914/Uckfield: Naval & Military, 2001, ISBN 978-1-84342-116-0.
• J.R. Western, The English Militia in the Eighteenth Century: The Story of a Political Issue 1660–1802, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1965.

Further reading

• Hellicar, Eileen (1 January 1978). "Duke of Grafton (Augustus Henry Fitzroy)". Prime Ministers of Britain. David & Charles. ISBN 978-0-7153-7486-3.

External links

• The Third Duke of Grafton
• More about Augustus Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Grafton on the 10 Downing Street website.
• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Duke of Grafton

Augustus FitzRoy navigational boxes

v t e Dukes of Grafton Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke (1675–1690) Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke (1690–1757) Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke (1757–1811) George FitzRoy, 4th Duke (1811–1844) Henry FitzRoy, 5th Duke (1844–1863) William FitzRoy, 6th Duke (1863–1882) Augustus FitzRoy, 7th Duke (1882–1918) Alfred FitzRoy, 8th Duke (1918–1930) John FitzRoy, 9th Duke (1930–1936) Charles FitzRoy, 10th Duke (1936–1970) Hugh FitzRoy, 11th Duke (1970–2011) Henry FitzRoy, 12th Duke (2011–present) v t e Prime ministers of the United Kingdom (list) Great Britain Walpole (Orford) Wilmington Pelham Newcastle Devonshire Newcastle Bute G. Grenville Rockingham Chatham (Pitt the Elder) Grafton North Rockingham Shelburne Portland Pitt the Younger United Kingdom Pitt the Younger Addington Pitt the Younger Lord Grenville Portland Perceval Liverpool Canning Goderich Wellington Grey Melbourne Wellington Peel Melbourne Peel Russell Derby Aberdeen Palmerston Derby Palmerston Russell Derby Disraeli Gladstone Disraeli (Beaconsfield) Gladstone Salisbury Gladstone Salisbury Gladstone Rosebery Salisbury Balfour Campbell-Bannerman Asquith Lloyd George Law Baldwin MacDonald Baldwin MacDonald Baldwin Chamberlain Churchill Attlee Churchill Eden Macmillan Douglas-Home Wilson Heath Wilson Callaghan Thatcher Major Blair Brown Cameron May Johnson Truss Sunak Starmer Category v t e Cabinet of Prime Minister Lord North (1770–1782) Prime Minister Chancellor of the Exchequer Lord North (1770–1782) Lord Chancellor Commission (1770–1771) The Earl Bathurst (1771–1778) Lord Thurlow (1778–1782) Lord President of the Council The Earl Gower (1770–1779) The Earl Bathurst (1779–1782) Lord Privy Seal The Earl of Halifax (1770–1771) The Earl Suffolk (1771) The Duke of Grafton (1771–1775) The Earl of Dartmouth (1775–1782) Lord Steward The Earl Talbot (1770–1782) Lord Chamberlain The Earl of Hertford (1770–1782) Southern Secretary The Viscount Weymouth (1770) The Earl of Rochford (1770–1775) The Viscount Weymouth (1775–1779) The Earl of Hillsborough (1779–1782) Northern Secretary The Earl of Rochford (1770) The Earl of Sandwich (1770–1771) The Earl of Halifax (1771) The Earl of Suffolk (1771–1779) The Viscount Weymouth (1779) The Viscount Stormont (1779–1782) Colonial Secretary The Earl of Hillsborough (1770–1772) The Earl of Dartmouth (1772–1775) The Lord George Germain (1775–1782) Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Lord Strange (1770–1771) The Earl of Clarendon (1771–1782) First Lord of the Admiralty Sir Edward Hawke (1770–1771) The Earl of Sandwich (1778–1782) Master-General of the Ordnance Vacant (1770–1772) The Viscount Townshend (1772–1782) Lord Lieutenant of Ireland The Viscount Townshend (1770–1772) The Earl Harcourt (1772–1777) The Earl of Buckinghamshire (1777–1780) The Earl of Carlisle (1780–1782) v t e Chancellors of the University of Cambridge Richard of Wetheringsett Hugh de Hotton Reginald Gerninghall Stephen Hepworth William de Ludham Richard de Gedney Richard Dryfield John de Asgarby John Hooke Roger de Fulbourn Andrew de Gisleham Thomas Sheringham Stephen Hepworth Ralph de Leicester Henry de Boyton John de Bradenham Thomas de Sheringham Stephen Hepworth Stephen Haslingfield Stephen de Segrace Stephen Haslingfield Richard de Ashton Roger Northburgh Richard de Badew Thomas de Foxton Robert de Winwick Robert de Winwick John de Langley Robert de Mildenhall Henry de Herwarden Richard Harling Robert de Claydon Thomas de Northwood Thomas de Northwood John de Crakhall Thomas de Grantchester William de Lymbergh Richard Harling Anthony of Grantchester William Tynkell Thomas Sutton Richard de Wetherset Michael de Haynton Michael de Causton William de Gotham Thomas de Stewkley John de Donwich Adam de Lakenheath John de Donwich William de Gotham Richard Scrope Eudo Zouche John Cavendish Guy Zouche John de Bromyard John of Neketon John de Burgh Thomas Hetherset John de Burgh William Colvile Richard Dereham William Colvile John de Neketon William Colvile Guy Zouche Richard Billingford Richard Dereham Richard Billingford Stephen le Scrope John de Rickingale Thomas of Cobham Robert Fitzhugh William Wymbell Marmaduke Lumley John Holeroke William Lascells Richard Billingford Richard Cawdray John Langton Nicholas Kenton John Langton Robert Ascogh Nicholas Close William Percy Lawrence Booth William Wilflete Robert Woodlark Richard Scroope Robert Woodlark John Booth William Wilflete John Harrison William Wilflete Edward Story Thomas Rotherham (or Scot) Edward Story Thomas Rotherham John Boynton Thomas Rotherham Thomas Cosyn John Blythe George Fitzhugh Thomas Rotherham Richard Fox George Fitzhugh Thomas Ruthall (or Rowthall) John Fisher Thomas Cromwell Stephen Gardiner Edward Seymour The Duke of Northumberland Stephen Gardiner Reginald Pole The Lord Burghley The Earl of Essex The Earl of Salisbury The Earl of Northampton The Earl of Suffolk The Duke of Buckingham The Earl of Holland The Earl of Manchester Oliver St John The Duke of Manchester The Duke of Buckingham The Duke of Monmouth The Duke of Albemarle The Duke of Somerset The Duke of Newcastle The Duke of Grafton HRH The Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh The Marquess Camden The Duke of Northumberland HRH The Prince Consort The Duke of Devonshire The Duke of Devonshire The Lord Rayleigh The Earl of Balfour The Earl Baldwin of Bewdley Jan Smuts The Lord Tedder The Lord Adrian HRH The Duke of Edinburgh The Lord Sainsbury of Turville

• Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton
• 1735 births
• 1811 deaths
• 18th-century English nobility
• 19th-century English nobility
• 18th-century English non-fiction writers
• 18th-century Unitarians
• 19th-century Unitarians
• Whig prime ministers of the United Kingdom
• Alumni of Peterhouse, Cambridge
• British officials in the American Revolution
• British racehorse owners and breeders
• Chancellors of the University of Cambridge
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• Knights of the Garter
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