Thomas FitzMaurice, 5th Earl of Orkney

Early life

FitzMaurice was the son of John FitzMaurice, Viscount Kirkwall and the former Hon. Anna Maria Blaquiere. Among his siblings were William FitzMaurice, MP for Buckinghamshire. His father served as MP for Heytesbury and Denbigh Boroughs.

His paternal grandparents were Mary FitzMaurice, 4th Countess of Orkney and Thomas Fitzmaurice, MP for Calne and Wycombe (who was a younger son of John Petty, 1st Earl of Shelburne). His maternal grandparents were the former Eleanor Dobson and John Blaquiere, 1st Baron de Blaquiere, the Chief Secretary for Ireland. His great-uncle was British Prime Minister under George III, William Petty-FitzMaurice, 1st Marquess of Lansdowne, who succeeded in securing peace and ending the American War of Independence.

Career

On 30 December 1831, he succeeded his grandmother Mary as Earl of Orkney.

From 14 January 1833 to 26 January 1874, he served as a Representative Peer for Scotland.

He served in the Yeomanry Cavalry.

Personal life

On 14 March 1826, he married the Hon. Charlotte Irby, daughter of George Irby, 3rd Baron Boston and Rachel Ives Drake. Together, they were the parents of:

• George William Hamilton FitzMaurice, 6th Earl of Orkney (1827–1889), who married Amelia Samuel, daughter of Samuel Moses Samuel, in 1872.
• Hon. Henry Warrender FitzMaurice (1828–1875), who married Sarah Jane Roose, daughter of George Bradley Roose, in 1861.
• Hon. Frederick O'Bryen FitzMaurice (1830–1867), who married Mary Anne Taylor Abraham, daughter of Robert Taylor Spooner Abraham, in 1853.
• Lady Isabella Emma Elizabeth FitzMaurice (1832–1906), who married Samuel Leo Schuster, son of Leo Schuster, in 1858. After his death in 1884, she married Lt.-Gen. Hon. Hussey Fane Keane, son of Lt.-Gen. John Keane, 1st Baron Keane, in 1886.
• Hon. Alexander Temple FitzMaurice (1834–1894), who became a Groom of the Bedchamber to the Prince of Wales in 1867; he married Adela Mary Scrope, daughter of Simon Thomas Scrope, in 1873.
• Hon. James Terence FitzMaurice (1835–1917), who married Frances Rhoda Ouseley, daughter of Sir William Gore Ouseley, in 1861. After her death in 1907, he married Eleanor Palairet, daughter of Capt. Septimus Henry Palairet and sister to Henry Palaire, in 1911.
• Lady Emily Charlotte FitzMaurice (1836–1910)
• Lady Maria Louisa FitzMaurice (1837–1917), who married Edmund Robert Spearman, son of Sir Alexander Young Spearman, 1st Baronet, in 1859.

Lord Orkney died on 16 May 1877. He is interred in Latteragh graveyard in County Tipperary, Ireland. He was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son, George.

Descendants

Through his daughter Lady Maria, he was the great-grandfather of Sir Christopher Bullock who was Permanent Under-Secretary for the British Air Ministry.

References

References

1. "FITZMAURICE, John Hamilton, Visct. Kirkwall (1778-1820), of Llewenny Hall, Denb.". [[History of Parliament Online]].
2. "BLAQUIERE, Sir John, 1st Bt., 1st Baron de Blaquiere [I] (1732-1812), of Ardkill, co. Londonderry.". [[History of Parliament Online]].
3. (1882). "The Baronetage and Knightage of the British Empire for 1882: Forming the Second Part of "The Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage of the British Empire"". Nichols.
4. (1838). "Debrett's Complete Peerage of the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Ireland ...". J. G. & F. Rivington.
5. Mosley, Charles, editor. ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes.'' [[Wilmington, Delaware]], [[U.S.A.]]: [[Burke's Peerage]] (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003, volume 1, p. 447 and volume 2, pps. 2122, 3025.
6. "Gravestone Inscriptions, The Ormond historical Society".
7. Nikkhah, Roya. (16 December 2012). "Duchess of Cambridge discovers blue blood in her own family". The Sunday Telegraph.
8. (1937). "Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry". Bernard Burke.