Stéphanie Caroline Anne Syms, Lady Edward FitzGerald (9 November 1831) was the wife of

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 ...

, the radical revolutionary and leading

United Irishman ''The United Irishman'' was an Irish nationalist newspaper co-founded by Arthur Griffith and William Rooney.Arthur Griffith ...

, and was herself an enthusiastic supporter of

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

independence, scarcely less celebrated at the time than Lord Edward himself. She was born Stéphanie Caroline Anne Syms and known as "Pamela". Her origins are uncertain. She was described as an adopted daughter of Félicité de Genlis; it is usually assumed that she was an unacknowledged daughter of Madame de Genlis and Louis Philip II, Duke of Orléans. However, there is a tradition in Fogo, Newfoundland, that she was the illegitimate daughter of an English naval officer, was taken to England and ended up in the Genlis household. During the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

, the Genlis family fled to England. By then an attractive young woman, Pamela became engaged to Richard Sheridan, but the engagement was quickly ended. She instead married

at Tournai on 27 December 1792. They settled at his home in

Kildare Kildare () is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. , its population was 8,634 making it the 7th largest town in County Kildare. The town lies on the R445, some west of Dublin – near enough for it to have become, despite being a regional ce ...

and had three children: Edward Fox (1794–1863); Pamela, afterwards wife of General Sir Guy Campbell; Lucy Louisa, who married Captain Lyon, RN. As the country seethed with rebellion, FitzGerald was hunted by the government and forced into hiding. He was betrayed a few days before the date set for the planned rising he was to lead and was wounded

resisting arrest Resisting arrest, or simply resisting, is an illegal act of a suspected criminal either fleeing, threatening, assaulting, or providing a fake ID to a police officer during arrest. In most cases, the person responsible for resisting arrest is crimi ...

on 19 May 1798. Although his wound was to the shoulder and relatively minor it was left untreated and he died of his wounds on 5 June. As a traitor to the British crown, his estates were confiscated, and Pamela was compelled to leave the country to avoid possible charges of treason. Pamela fled to

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, where in 1800 she married Joseph Pitcairn, the American consul to Hamburg. Although she had been greatly beloved and esteemed by the whole FitzGerald family, her intimacy with them ceased after her second marriage. She remained to the last passionately devoted to the memory of her first husband and died in November 1831 in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, where a portrait of her hangs in the

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. During the Franco-Prussian War, her gravestone was damaged, so in 1880 her remains were brought back to England and were buried in the churchyard of St. Nicholas, Thames Ditton, Surrey, with her elder daughter, Pamela (Lady Guy Campbell).The Old Limerick Journal. French edition.
See "J.P. Leonard". Retrieved 24 May 2014. The damaged gravestone can still be seen in the graveyard of St Nicholas.

References

* '' Dictionary of National Biography'', article Fitzgerald, Pamela.
Portrait.
Painted by Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun (1755–1842). Retrieved 24 May 2014. {{DEFAULTSORT:FitzGerald, Edward 1773 births 1831 deaths French adoptees Edward French emigrants to Ireland