Lord John FitzGerald (3 March 1952 – 3 August 2015), was an Irish nobleman, British Army officer, racehorse trainer, and horseracing administrator. Lord John was the second son of Gerald, 8th Duke of Leinster, and his second wife, Anne, daughter of Lt-Col Philip Smith, MC, TD. He was born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

and educated at

Millfield School Millfield is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) located in Street, Somerset, England. It was founded in 1935. Millfield is a registered charity and is the largest co-educational boarding schoo ...

Street A street is a public thoroughfare in a built environment. It is a public parcel of land adjoining buildings in an urban context, on which people may freely assemble, interact, and move about. A street can be as simple as a level patch of di ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lor ...

Career

After

Millfield Millfield is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) located in Street, Somerset, England. It was founded in 1935. Millfield is a registered charity and is the largest co-educational boarding sch ...

, FitzGerald trained at the

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial officer training centre. It is located in the town o ...

, and was commissioned into the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards, with periods of service with the

British Army of the Rhine There have been two formations named British Army of the Rhine (BAOR). Both were originally occupation forces in Germany, one after the First World War and the other after the Second World War. Both formations had areas of responsibility located ...

and in Cyprus. He reached the rank of

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. Upon leaving the British Army FitzGerald entered the horseracing industry, he had in fact ridden extensively as an amateur jockey during his time in the British Army, and now pursued a career as a racehorse trainer in Newmarket. During his first season as licensed trainer, FitzGerald won the Norfolk Stakes at the 1986

Royal Ascot Ascot Racecourse ("ascot" pronounced , often pronounced ) is a dual-purpose British racecourse, located in Ascot, Berkshire, England, which is used for thoroughbred horse racing. It hosts 13 of Britain's 36 annual Flat Group 1 horse races a ...

meeting with the horse called Sizzling Melody who became a leading sprinter of his generation also winning the Flying Childers Stakes at Doncaster, and the Prix Petit Cuvert at Longchamp as well as being placed in the 1987 William Hill Sprint Championship at York. In 1992, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum recruited FitzGerald to administer horseracing in Dubai, with the aim of establishing the necessary conditions regulatory environment needed to host top class international races. FitzGerald oversaw the creation of the internationally recognised Emirates Racing Authority, the expansion to world-class standards of the country's biggest racetrack, Nad Al Sheba, and the founding in 1996 of the

Dubai World Cup The Dubai World Cup (Arabic: كأس دبي العالمي) is a Thoroughbred horse race held annually since 1996 and contested at the Meydan Racecourse (Arabic: ميدان) which in Arabic suggests a place wh ...

, the world's richest horse race. FitzGerald concluded his career by returning to Newmarket and working, up until his death, as racing manager for Kirsten Rausing at the Lanwades Stud in Kennett.

Personal life

Lord John FitzGerald married Barbara Zindel (1956/1957), daughter of Andreas Zindel, of

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR ...

, and wife Danielle, of

and St. Moritz,

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, at St. Nicholas Church, Chadlington,

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, on 11 December 1982; they divorced in 2013 and FitzGerald died on 3 August 2015. Lord and Lady John FitzGerald had two children: *

Hermione FitzGerald Hermione FitzGerald (born 11 October 1985) is an Irish professional golfer. Early life FitzGerald is the daughter of Lord John FitzGerald and wife Barbara Zindel. She is of Irish and Swiss descent. She began playing golf at the age of eight wh ...

(born Newmarket,

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include ...

, 11 October 1985) * Edward FitzGerald (born Newmarket, Suffolk, 27 October 1988), married on 5 August 2017 to Laura Caroline Tellwright (1987), daughter of William Kirkland Tellwright (

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...

, April or June 1956) and wife (9 May 1981) Hon. Caroline Fiona Fitzherbert (13 October 1956), paternal granddaughter of William Anthony Tellwright (Stoke-on-Trent, January or March 1928) and wife (

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropolitan borough, it ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, October or December 1953) Dora J. Glazebrook (Marylebone, London, July or September 1934) and maternal granddaughter of Basil Francis Nicholas Fitzherbert, 14th Baron Stafford (7 April 1926 - 1986) and wife (16 June 1952) Morag Nada Campbell ( Southam, October or December 1932), and has issue: ** Eve FitzGerald (London, 24 March 2020) His daughter Hermione is a professional golfer. His son Edward is the current

heir presumptive An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an heir apparent or a new heir presumptive with a better claim to the position in question. ...

to the dukedom and other family titles.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:FitzGerald, John, Lord Graduates of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards officers British racehorse trainers Younger sons of dukes 1952 births 2015 deaths People educated at Millfield