Edward FitzGerald, 7th Duke of Leinster

Arms of the Duke of Leinster

Edward FitzGerald, 7th Duke of Leinster, etc. (6 May 1892 8 March 1976), known as Lord Edward FitzGerald before 1922, was Ireland's Premier Peer of the Realm.

Life

Leinster was the youngest of the three sons born to Gerald FitzGerald, 5th Duke of Leinster and his wife, the former Lady Hermione Duncombe. His alleged biological father, however, was Hugo Charteris, 11th Earl of Wemyss.[1]

He inherited the Dukedom in 1922, upon the death of his eldest brother, Maurice FitzGerald, 6th Duke of Leinster, who never married and was confined to a mental institution at the time of his death.

An addicted gambler, Leinster had already signed away his possible reversionary rights to the family's ancestral seat, Carton House, near Maynooth in County Kildare, not expecting that he would inherit the property and the title. He chose to live in England and his estates remained in the possession of the beneficiary, Sir Harry Mallaby-Deeley, 1st Baronet during the Duke's lifetime.[2]

In 1936, Leinster testified at a bankruptcy hearing that he had travelled to the United States in 1928 order to find an heiress to marry and that during his trip he "entertained lavishly on borrowed money in efforts to find an American wife who would pay off his debts".[3] Two heiresses appeared to be interested but both eventually declined to become Duchess of Leinster.[3]

Unable to repay his debts, the duke spent the final years of his life living in a small bedsit in Pimlico.[4] He died by suicide in 1976 by taking an overdose of pentobarbital.[5]

Personal life

The Duke of Leinster married four times, his wives being:[6]

The duke had an illegitimate son by Yvonne Denison Percy Probyn (later known as Yvonne FitzGerald), daughter of Col. J. Percy Probyn:

References

  1. Angela Lambert, Unquiet Souls (Harper & Row, 1984), page 64
  2. "Co Kildare Electronic History". County Kildare Library. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
  3. 3.0 3.1 "Heiress Hunt Is Told by Duke of Leinster", The New York Times, 15 October 1936
  4. "The Duke of Leinster". The Daily Telegraph. 12 July 2004. Retrieved 6 October 2012. Obituary for the 8th Duke of Leinster, Edward FitzGerald's son
  5. Scriven, Marcus (2009). Splendour and Squalor. Atlantic Books.
  6. Edward FitzGerald, 7th Duke of Leinster - website ThePeerage.com
  7. 7.0 7.1 "Divorced Duchess Dies in Bungalow", The New York Times, 13 February 1935
  8. "Leinster Sues Wife in Edinburgh Court", The New York Times, 6 January 1926
  9. "Divorce from Actress for Duke of Leinster", The New York Times, 29 June 1930
  10. The 7th Duke, however, claimed, in a letter, that his only legitimate son was the result of an affair between May Etheridge and "a Jewish moneylender called Witkowski". See http://www.scotsman.com/news/dna-test-the-latest-twist-in-aristocratic-tale-of-a-cowboy-a-gambler-and-a-web-of-deceit-1-833625
  11. "One Thing and Another", The New York Times, 12 December 1943
  12. Suzy Knickerbocker, "Duke and Duchesses and Their Bankruptcies", St. Petersburg Times, 1 January 1968

External links

Peerage of Ireland
Preceded by
Maurice FitzGerald
Duke of Leinster
19221976
Succeeded by
Gerald FitzGerald