Emily FitzGerald, Duchess of Leinster

Emily FitzGerald

The Duchess of Leinster. 1753 portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds.
Born Lady Emilia Mary Lennox
(1731-10-06)6 October 1731
Died 27 March 1814(1814-03-27) (aged 82)
Grosvenor Square, London
Nationality British
Title Duchess of Leinster
Marchioness of Kildare
Countess of Kildare
Spouse(s) James FitzGerald, 1st Duke of Leinster
William Ogilvie
Children William FitzGerald, 2nd Duke of Leinster
Mary Coote, Countess of Bellamont
Charles FitzGerald, 1st Baron Lecale
Charlotte Strutt, 1st Baroness Rayleigh
Lord Henry FitzGerald
Lady Sophia FitzGerald
Lord Edward FitzGerald
Lord Robert FitzGerald
Lord Gerald FitzGerald
Lady Lucy Foley
Cecilia Lock
Emily Beauclerk
Parent(s) Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond
Sarah Cadogan

Emily FitzGerald, Duchess of Leinster (6 October 1731 – 27 March 1814), known before 1747 as Lady Emily Lennox, from 1747 to 1761 as The Countess of Kildare and from 1761 to 1766 as The Marchioness of Kildare, was the second of the famous Lennox sisters, daughters of Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond, and illegitimately descended from King Charles II of England.

Early life

Lady Emily was almost sixteen when she married James FitzGerald, 20th Earl of Kildare, on the 7th of February, 1747. After their wedding in London, the couple returned to Fitzgerald's native Ireland, first residing at Leinster House then Carton House.

Their marriage was reportedly a happy one, despite Lord Kildare's infidelities. The couple had nineteen children:

Lord Kildare was created successively Marquess of Kildare and Duke of Leinster in recognition of his contribution to the political life of his country. It was partly the Duke's influence that led to a rift between the Duchess and her eldest sister, Caroline Fox, 1st Baroness Holland.

Later life

The Duchess of Leinster painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds in the 1770s.

After the death of Lord Kildare in 1773, the Duchess caused a minor sensation by marrying (26 August 1774) her children's tutor, William Ogilvie, with whom she had begun an affair some years earlier in Frescati House.[1] Despite her remarriage she continued to be known as The Dowager Duchess of Leinster. Ogilvie was nine years her junior, and was the natural father of her youngest son from her first marriage. They lived for part of their marriage at Ardglass Castle in Ardglass, County Down, where Ogilvie worked to develop the village.[2] A further three children were born to them after their marriage:

Emily was treated generously in her first husband's will. He left her a jointure of 4,000 pounds annually (increased from the 3,000 promised in the settlement), and a life interest in Leinster House (Dublin) and Carton (which she exchanged for Frescati House and 40,000 pounds) together with all their contents. She had brought the usual ducal daughter's dowry of 10,000 pounds, so the jointure and other payments would cripple her son the 2nd Duke of Leinster financially. The 1st Duke also made over-generous provisions for his younger sons and all his daughters. Emily, Duchess of Leinster and her second husband, also received the usual annuity of 400 pounds annually for each of the minor children who lived with her. Thus, Emily and William Ogilvie were probably financially better off than the 2nd Duke, who existed on less than 7,000 pounds annually out of which he had to run two large houses, play a role in Irish politics, and also provide lavish dowries of 10,000 each for three sisters who married. He also had to pay huge annuities (2,000 each) to the next youngest brothers Lord Lecale and Lord Henry Fitzgerald, and to pay the youngest brothers 10,000 each at their majority. Since Emily lived to 1814 (outliving the 2nd Duke by ten years), all these generous testamentary provisions, along with the huge building costs incurred by the 1st Duke, crippled the Leinsters for generations.[3]

Twelve of her children predeceased her. One of her sons, Lord Edward FitzGerald, was a major figure in the republican movement, and was killed during the Irish Rebellion of 1798.

She died on 27 March 1814 in Grosvenor Square, London.[4]

Popular culture

In 1999, a six-part BBC miniseries based on the lives of Emily Lennox and her sisters aired in the U.K. It was called Aristocrats.

Ancestry

References

Bibliography

Sources

Citations

  1. ↑ Malcolmson, A.P.W. (2006). The Pursuit of the Heiress. Ulster Historical Foundation. p. 41. ISBN 1-903688-65-5.
  2. ↑ Bence-Jones, Mark (1988). A Guide to Irish County Houses. London: Constable. p. 10. ISBN 0 09 469990 9.
  3. ↑ A. P. W. Malcomson (2006). The Pursuit of the Heiress: Aristocratic Marriage in Ireland 1740-1840. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
  4. ↑ http://genealogics.org/getperson.php?personID=I00000034&tree=LEO
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