Vice-Admiral Charles James FitzGerald, 1st Baron Lecale PC (Ire) (30 June 1756 – 18 February 1810), styled Lord Charles FitzGerald between 1761 and 1800, was an Irish naval commander and politician.

Background

FitzGerald was the third son of

James FitzGerald, 1st Duke of Leinster Lieutenant-General James FitzGerald, 1st Duke of Leinster, PC (Ire) (29 May 1722 – 19 November 1773), styled Lord Offaly until 1743 and known as The Earl of Kildare between 1743 and 1761 and as The Marquess of Kildare between 1761 and 176 ...

, and Lady Emily, daughter of

Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond, 2nd Duke of Lennox, 2nd Duke of Aubigny, (18 May 17018 August 1750) of Goodwood House near Chichester in Sussex, was a British nobleman and politician. He was the son of Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmo ...

and the second of the famous

Lennox Sisters The Lennox sisters were four eighteenth-century British aristocrats, the daughters of Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond (1701–1750) by his wife Lady Sarah Cadogan (1705–1751). The four sisters were: *Caroline Fox, 1st Baroness Holland (172 ...

. He was the brother of

William FitzGerald, 2nd Duke of Leinster William Robert FitzGerald, 2nd Duke of Leinster, KP, PC (Ire) (12/13 March 1749 – 20 October 1804) was an Irish liberal politician and landowner. He was born in London. Career FitzGerald made his Grand Tour between 1768 and 1769. During th ...

Lord Henry FitzGerald Lord Henry FitzGerald PC (Ire) (30 July 1761 – 9 July 1829) was the fourth son of the 1st Duke of Leinster and the Duchess of Leinster (née Lady Emily Lennox). A younger brother was the revolutionary Lord Edward FitzGerald. Life Fitzgerald ...

and

Lord Edward FitzGerald Lord Edward FitzGerald (15 October 1763 – 4 June 1798) was an Irish aristocrat who abandoned his prospects as a distinguished veteran of British service in the American War of Independence, and as an Irish Parliamentarian, to embrace the caus ...

. Through his mother he was a great-great-grandson of King Charles II. There were 19 children in his family. His sister Lady Charlotte FitzGerald took the title of Baroness Rayleigh in 1821. His brother Lord Edward FitzGerald is known as the famous Irish revolutionary. One of his numerous brothers was Lord Robert Stephen FitzGerald who is known to be a British diplomat in Switzerland 1792–1795.

Political and naval career

FitzGerald sat as a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) in the

Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, but on a highly restrictive fran ...

for

Kildare County Kildare County F.C. ( ga, Cumann Peile Chontae Chill Dara) was an Irish association football club based in Newbridge, County Kildare. Between 2002–03 and 2009 they played in the League of Ireland First Division. During this time they also e ...

from 1776 to 1790, for Cavan Borough from 1790 to 1798 and for Ardfert from 1798 to the Act of Union in 1801. He served as

High Sheriff of Down The High Sheriff of Down is the Sovereign's judicial representative in County Down. Initially an office for lifetime, assigned by the Sovereign, the High Sheriff became annually appointed from the Provisions of Oxford in 1258. Besides his judici ...

in 1783, a Commissioner of Customs between 1789 and 1792 and as Muster-Master-General of Ireland between 1792 and 1806. He also served in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

. He was commissioned as a lieutenant in 1777, and his first command was the cutter in 1779. He sailed her to

Saint Lucia Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Ameri ...

, where she was wrecked in March 1780, though without loss of life. He was made

post-captain Post-captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of captain in the Royal Navy. The term served to distinguish those who were captains by rank from: * Officers in command of a naval vessel, who were (and still are) addressed as captain ...

on 23 May 1780. Thereafter he was captain of a number of frigates. He participated in the

Battle of the Chesapeake The Battle of the Chesapeake, also known as the Battle of the Virginia Capes or simply the Battle of the Capes, was a crucial naval battle in the American Revolutionary War that took place near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay on 5 September 17 ...

in 1781. He was made a

Rear-Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

in 1790. On 27 December 1800, he was raised to the

Peerage of Ireland The Peerage of Ireland consists of those titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lord or King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It is one of the five divisi ...

as Baron Lecale, of

Ardglass Ardglass () is a coastal fishing village, townland (of 321 acres) and civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland, in the historic barony of Lecale Lower. It is still a relatively important fishing harbour. It is situated on the B1 Ard ...

in the County of Down. He briefly represented

Arundel Arundel ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Arun District of the South Downs, West Sussex, England. The much-conserved town has a medieval castle and Roman Catholic cathedral. Arundel has a museum and comes second behind much larg ...

in the

British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 65 ...

between January and April 1807.

Family

Lord Lecale was twice married, the second time in London on 18 July 1808 to former Mrs. Julia Carton (died Courtlands,

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

, 6 May 1844), without issue. His only children, both illegitimate, were Henry FitzGerald, who died at sea, off

Civitavecchia Civitavecchia (; meaning "ancient town") is a city and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Rome in the central Italian region of Lazio. A sea port on the Tyrrhenian Sea, it is located west-north-west of Rome. The harbour is formed by two pier ...

, on 14 September 1803, and Anna Maria FitzGerald who eventually married morganatically to the Hon.

Algernon Percy (diplomat) Algernon Percy (1779–1833), was a British diplomat. Percy was the second son of Algernon Percy, 1st Earl of Beverley and Isabella Burrell, daughter of Peter Burrell. He served as Minister Plenipotentiary to the Swiss Cantons from 1825 to 183 ...

. Lecale converted 15th century warehouses in

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to th ...

into a castellated house, known as

Ardglass Castle Ardglass Castle (also known as The Newark) is situated in Ardglass, County Down, Northern Ireland. It was originally a row of 15th century warehouses by the harbour. Large sections of the original building can still be seen within the modern clu ...

, at the end of the 18th century. The castle is now the home of Ardglass Golf Club. He died in the Castle in February 1810, aged 53, when the barony became extinct. Lord Lecale's tomb is located in Bright parish church, which bears a memorial plate in his name.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:FitzGerald, Charles

Lecale Lecale (, ) is a peninsula in the east of County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies between Strangford Lough and Dundrum Bay. In the Middle Ages it was a district or ''túath'' in the Gaelic Irish kingdom of Ulaid, then became a county in the Anglo ...

High Sheriffs of Down Irish MPs 1776–1783 Irish MPs 1783–1790 Irish MPs 1790–1797 Irish MPs 1798–1800 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1806–1807 UK MPs who were granted peerages Younger sons of dukes

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...

Politicians from County Kildare 19th-century Irish people Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Cavan constituencies Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Kerry constituencies Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Kildare constituencies