Hugh FitzRoy, 11th Duke of Grafton

His Grace
The Duke of Grafton
KG DL
Member of the House of Lords
In office
11 November 1970 – 11 November 1999
Preceded byCharles FitzRoy, 10th Duke of Grafton
Succeeded byseat abolished
Personal details
Born
Hugh Denis Charles FitzRoy

3 April 1919
Cape Town, Union of South Africa
Died7 April 2011(2011-04-07) (aged 92)
Euston Hall, Euston, Suffolk, England
NationalityBritish
Spouse
​
(m. 1946)​
ChildrenJames FitzRoy, Earl of Euston
Lady Henrietta St. George
Lady Virginia FitzRoy
Lord Charles FitzRoy
Lady Olivia Monson
Parent(s)Charles FitzRoy, 10th Duke of Grafton
Lady Doreen Buxton
Alma materMagdalene College, Cambridge
Military service
AllegianceUnited Kingdom
Branch/serviceBritish Army
UnitGrenadier Guards

Hugh Denis Charles FitzRoy, 11th Duke of Grafton KG DL (3 April 1919 – 7 April 2011) was the son of Charles FitzRoy, 10th Duke of Grafton, and his first wife Lady Doreen Maria Josepha Sydney Buxton, second daughter of Sydney Buxton, 1st Earl Buxton. He was known from 1936 to 1970 as Earl of Euston.

Life and career

He was born in 1919 in Cape Town, Union of South Africa.[1][2] He is one of the hundreds of descendants of Charles II of England. He descends through Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Grafton born to the King's mistress Barbara Villiers. Charles had many children but none legitimate; at his death, the crown passed to his brother, a Catholic who was deposed and whose progeny were excluded on that basis, save for his two daughters raised as Protestants. The House of Stuart thereafter gave way to their distant cousins, the House of Hanover.

Through the Duke's ancestor Anne Warren, a daughter of Admiral Sir Peter Warren, he is a descendant of the Schuyler family, the Van Cortlandt family, and the Delancey family, all from British North America.

The Duke was educated at Eton College and at Magdalene College, Cambridge. He was subsequently commissioned into the Grenadier Guards, and for three years from 1943 was Aide-de-camp to the Viceroy of India, Field Marshal Viscount Wavell.

The Duke of Grafton devoted much of his life to the conservation and protection of historic buildings. He was chairman and later president of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, and also chaired at various times the Historic Churches Preservation Trust, the Architectural Heritage Fund, the Church of England's Cathedral Advisory Commission and Sir John Soane's Museum.

The 11th Duke of Grafton outside Euston Hall

The Duke was a member of the Historic Buildings Council from its foundation in 1953, and until he succeeded his father as duke in 1970, he was the National Trust's administrator for Sussex and Kent, and later East Anglia. He was vice-chairman of the National Portrait Gallery. He was also the chairman of the English section of ICOMOS, the International Commission for Monuments and Sites and member of its international board.

The Duke of Grafton's home was Euston Hall, near Thetford. He was made a Knight Companion of the Garter in 1976.[3] He died in 2011 at Euston Hall, Suffolk.[4]

Marriage and children

On 12 October 1946, he married Ann Fortune Smith (Mistress of the Robes to Queen Elizabeth II from 1967 until her death). They had five children:[1]

References

Notes

  1. ^ a b Charles Mosley, ed. (2004). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage. Vol. II (107 ed.). Burke's Peerage & Gentry. pp. 1616–19. ISBN 0-9711966-2-1.
  2. ^ National Portrait Gallery. "Hugh Denis Charles Fitzroy, 11th Duke of Grafton". Collections subjects. Retrieved 14 June 2009.
  3. ^ "No. 46885". The London Gazette. 27 April 1976. p. 6047.
  4. ^ The Daily Telegraph (London) 10 April 2011, Death Announcements, online [1]
  5. ^ Dylan Lobo (19 April 2008). "Fund Manager Profile: Sarasin's Guy Monson". City Wire.[permanent dead link‍]

Sources

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Peerage of England
Preceded by Duke of Grafton
1970–2011 		Succeeded by