Gerald FitzGerald, 8th Duke of Leinster
Gerald FitzGerald, 8th Duke of Leinster (born May 27, 1914 - December 3, 2004 ) was an Irish peer and non-party politician. From 1922 to 1976 he carried the courtesy title of Marquess of Kildare .
life and career
He was the only child of Edward FitzGerald, 7th Duke of Leinster and his first wife, May Juanita Etheridge. Because of the separation of his parents in 1922 and their subsequent divorce eight years later, he spent much of his childhood with his great-aunt Lady Adelaide FitzGerald (1860-1942), in Johnstone Castle in County Wexford . He attended Eton College and became a cadet at the Royal Military College , Sandhurst. During World War II he served as a major in the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards . After being wounded in Normandy , he retired from the army as an invalid .
After the war, he worked as a farmer on the lands belonging to his Kilkea Castle estate in County Kildare . He was an avid supporter of fox hunting and was a master of various foxhound breeds. Lacking economic success on his farm, he moved to Oxfordshire , England in the early 1960s and worked in the aviation industry from then on .
After his father died in 1976, he inherited his title of nobility. He could not take up the title immediately because an American ultimately unsuccessfully claimed the title for himself and pretended to be the son of Lord Desmond FitzGerald († 1916), the older brother of the 8th Duke. Associated with the titles was a hereditary seat in the House of Lords , which he held until the reforms of the House of Lords Act 1999 .
In 1999 he tried unsuccessfully to prevent his half-brother Adrian, an illegitimate son of his father, from being recognized as such by Debrett's Peerage and Burke's Peerage and taking the surname FitzGerald through Deed poll .
When he died in 2004 at the age of 90, his eldest son Maurice inherited his title of nobility.
Marriages and offspring
His first marriage was on October 17, 1936, Joane Kavanagh (1915-1994). The marriage ended in divorce in 1946. He has three daughters with her:
- Lady Pamela Hermione FitzGerald (1937-1938);
- Lady Rosemary Anne FitzGerald (* 1939) ⚭ 1963 (divorced 1967) Mark Killigrew Wait;
- Lady Nesta FitzGerald (* 1942) ⚭ 1977 Philip Tirard († 1993).
In his second marriage, he married Anne Smith (* 1922) in 1946. He has two sons with her:
- Maurice FitzGerald, 9th Duke of Leinster (* 1948);
- Lord John FitzGerald (1952–2015) ⚭ 1982 Barbara Zindel.
Web links
- Mr Gerald FitzGerald at Hansard (English)
- Gerald FitzGerald, 8th Duke of Leinster on thepeerage.com , accessed September 11, 2016.
- Obituary in the Daily Telegraph
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Edward FitzGerald |
Duke of Leinster 1976-2004 |
Maurice FitzGerald |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | FitzGerald, Gerald, 8th Duke of Leinster |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Irish peer and politician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 27, 1914 |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 3, 2004 |