Geoffrey FitzClarence, 3rd Earl of Munster

Geoffrey George Gordon FitzClarence, 3rd Earl of Munster , DSO ( July 18, 1859 - February 2, 1902 ) was a British peer and great-grandson of King William IV and his mistress Dorothea Jordan .

family

He was the third son of William FitzClarence, 2nd Earl of Munster (1824-1901) and Wilhelmina Kennedy-Erskine (1830-1906). His parents were cousins ​​and he was thus the great-grandson of William IV through both parents. His paternal grandfather George FitzClarence, 1st Earl of Munster and his maternal grandmother Lady Augusta FitzClarence were siblings.

Geoffrey had eight siblings. His two older brothers Edward and Lionel died before they came of age. Edward, Viscount FitzClarence, died in 1870 at the age of 14 and Lionel in 1863 at the age of six. Geoffrey had been his father's apparent marriage since 1870 and as such used the courtesy title Lord Tewkesbury - to distinguish it from his deceased brother, he did not use the usual courtesy title Viscount FitzClarence .

Military career

Lord Tewkesbury was called up as a subaltern of the 2nd Battalion of the Kings Royal Rifle Corps in the British Army . He served in the Second Anglo-Afghan War between 1879 and 1880 . He then served in the Third Battalion in the First Boer War in 1881 . In 1888 he was promoted to captain and in 1895 he left the regular armed forces.

After his retirement he was from March 25, 1896 a captain in the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Scots and was then promoted to the honorary rank of majors . The battalion was incorporated in December 1899 to serve in the Second Boer War . In March 1900 he left Queenstown with the SS Oriental for South Africa. Lord Tewkesbury was mentioned in dispatches and received the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) for his services .

Peerage

During his last military service in South Africa , he learned of the death of his father, with whom he succeeded him as 3rd Earl of Munster and a formal member of the House of Lords . But he did not return to Great Britain and died at the age of 42, only nine months after his father in South Africa in an accident at Lace Mines.

The 3rd Earl was unmarried and had no children. Hence his titles went to his younger brother Aubrey .

literature

• Obituary - Earl of Munster . In: The Times . No. 36682, p. 8, London, February 4, 1902.
• The War - Embarcation of Troops . In: The Times. No. 36080, p. 9, London, March 3, 1900.

Web links

• Major Geoffrey George Gordon Fitz-Clarence, 3rd Earl of Munster on thepeerage.com
• Geoffrey FitzClarence at Hansard (English)

predecessor	Office	successor
William FitzClarence	Earl of Munster 1901-1902	Aubrey FitzClarence