Henry FitzRoy, 12th Duke of Grafton

His Grace
The Duke of Grafton
Born 6 April 1978
Title Duke of Grafton
Tenure 7 April 2011 – present
Predecessor Hugh FitzRoy, 11th Duke of Grafton
Spouse(s) Olivia Sladen
Parents James Fitzroy, Earl of Euston
Lady Claire Kerr

Henry Oliver Charles FitzRoy, 12th Duke of Grafton (born 6 April 1978), known as Harry Grafton, is an English peer and music promoter. He inherited the Dukedom of Grafton from his grandfather, Hugh FitzRoy, 11th Duke of Grafton, on 7 April 2011.

Early life

Grafton is the son of James Oliver Charles FitzRoy, Earl of Euston (1947–2009) and his wife, Lady Claire Amabel Margaret Kerr, the daughter of Peter Kerr, 12th Marquess of Lothian.[1][2] He was known as Viscount Ipswich from his birth until he succeeded to the dukedom. On his father's death in 2009 he could have taken the title of Earl of Euston, but did not do so.

His ancestor Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Grafton (1663–1690) was an illegitimate son of King Charles II by his mistress Barbara Villiers, Duchess of Cleveland.[3] Grafton shares the surname FitzRoy (meaning "son of the king") with other natural lines descended from Charles II.[4] The ducal coat of arms includes Charles II's royal coat of arms crossed by a baton, or bar, indicating both the family's royal lineage and its origin in illegitimacy.[5]

Through another ancestor, Anne Warren, a daughter of Adml. Sir Peter Warren, he is a descendant of the Schuyler family, the Van Cortlandt family, and the Delancey family, all from British North America. [6]

Educated at Harrow School and the University of Edinburgh, he spent a post-graduate year at the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester studying estate management.[7][5]

Career

From 2002 to 2004 he worked in the United States in music business management, as a radio host in Nashville, Tennessee, and in 2005–2006 as a merchandiser for the Rolling Stones on the A Bigger Bang tour.[7][8][5]

In 2007 he moved to London and in 2009, due to the death of his father, he returned to Suffolk to help manage the Euston estate. He currently promotes live music events through his estate while modernising its 10,000 acre farm.[5]

Family life

On 14 August 2010 Lord Ipswich, as he was then known, married Olivia Margaret M. Sladen at Snowshill, Gloucestershire.[9][8] Their engagement had been announced on 15 April 2010.[2] Their son, Alfred James Charles, Earl of Euston, was born on 26 December 2012. [10]

The Duke's seat is Euston Hall, at Euston in Suffolk, near Thetford in Norfolk.[5][11]

Titles and styles

Ancestry

Arms

Arms of Henry FitzRoy, 12th Duke of Grafton
Notes
The coat of arms of the Duke of Grafton
Coronet
The coronet of a Duke
Crest
On a Chapeau Gules turned up Ermine a Lion statant guardant Or ducally crowned Azure and gorged with a Collar counter-compony Argent and of the fourth
Escutcheon
The Royal Arms of Charles II, viz. Quarterly: 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
Supporters
Dexter: a Lion guardant Or ducally crowned Azure; Sinister: a Greyhound Argent; each gorged with a Collar counter-compony Argent and Azure
Motto
Et decus et pretium recti (Latin for "Both the ornament and the reward of virtue")

References

  1. ↑ Charles Mosley, ed., Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, vol. II (2004), ISBN 0-9711966-2-1, pp. 1616–1619
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Michael Rhodes posting to Peerage News message list, 15 April 2010
  3. ↑ David Clune, Ken Turner, The Governors of New South Wales 1788-2010 (2009, ISBN 1862877432), p. 203
  4. ↑ Bernard Falk, The Royal Fitz Roys: dukes of Grafton through four centuries (1950), p. 7
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Owen, Jane (April 17, 2014). "Duke of Grafton uses R&B to restore Euston Hall’s pleasure grounds". Financial Times. Retrieved April 20, 2014.
  6. ↑ ThePeerage.com page 7049. http://www.thepeerage.com/p7049.htm#i70490 Accessed March 14. 2015
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 'GRAFTON, 12th Duke of' in Who's Who 2014 (London: A. & C. Black, 2014); online edition by Oxford University Press, December 2013, accessed 8 March 2014 (subscription site)
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Richard Eden, Class warrior Lord Mandelson upsets his 'toffee-nosed' pals dated 17 April 2010 from The Daily Telegraph at telegraph.co.uk, accessed 8 March 2014
  9. ↑ Henry Oliver Charles FitzRoy at thepeerage.com, accessed 11 April 2011
  10. ↑ "GRAFTON". Daily Telegraph. 2 January 2013. Retrieved 3 January 2013.
  11. ↑ Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (2000), p. 704
Peerage of England
Preceded by
Hugh FitzRoy		 Duke of Grafton
2011– 		Incumbent