Maurice FitzGerald, 9th Duke of Leinster

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Family arms of FitzGerald

Maurice FitzGerald, 9th Duke of Leinster (born 7 April 1948), styled Earl of Offaly before 1976 and Marquess of Kildare between 1976 and 2004, is an Irish nobleman and landscape designer.[1]

The Duke is the highest-ranking member of the peerage of Ireland.[2]

Family and education

The elder son of the late Gerald, 8th Duke of Leinster, and his second wife, Anne, daughter of Lt-Col Philip Smith, MC, TD, he was educated at Millfield School at Street, Somerset, in the south west of England. Upon his father's death in 2004 he succeeded to the dukedom as the 9th Duke.

Marriage and children

Maurice FitzGerald, then styled Earl of Offaly, married Fiona Mary Francesca Hollick on 19 February 1972. The Duke and Duchess have three children:

Heir

As the present Duke's only son died childless in 1997, thus his brother, Captain Lord John FitzGerald (1952–2015), became heir presumptive to the family titles; educated at Millfield and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, he served as a Captain in the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards and later was a horse trainer by profession.[4]

Lord John married Barbara Zindel, daughter of Andreas and Daniela Zindel, of Lausanne and St. Moritz, Switzerland at St. Nicholas Church, Chadlington, Oxford, on 11 December 1982; they divorced in 2013 and Lord John died on 3 August 2015.[5] Lord and Lady John FitzGerald had two children:

  • Hermione FitzGerald (b. Newmarket, Suffolk, October 1985)
  • Edward FitzGerald (b. Newmarket, Suffolk, October 1988);[6]

Edward FitzGerald is the current heir presumptive to the dukedom and other family titles.

Title dispute

In 2006, a lawsuit was filed with HMG's Department of Constitutional Affairs by a California builder, Paul FitzGerald, in which he claimed to be the rightful Duke of Leinster. FitzGerald purported that he is the grandson of Lord Desmond FitzGerald, the second son of Gerald FitzGerald, 5th Duke of Leinster, who was recorded as having been killed in action during the First World War while serving with the Irish Guards. When Maurice FitzGerald, 6th Duke of Leinster died, mad and childless, in 1922, the dukedom [7] – and its considerable wealth and lands – devolved upon his youngest brother Lord Edward FitzGerald, who succeeded as the 7th Duke of Leinster. Paul FitzGerald and his supporters claimed that Lord Desmond faked his death and emigrated to California (by way of Winnipeg, Canada) where he lived until his death in 1967. The Baron Falconer of Thoroton, Lord Chancellor (2003–2007), and Harriet Harman, Minister of State in the Department for Constitutional Affairs, gave due consideration to this claim.[8] The claim was dismissed by Lord Falconer despite a 30-year campaign by Paul FitzGerald's family reputedly costing £1.3 million. The Lord Chancellor adjudicated that the title was to remain with the existing holder, the 9th Duke, Maurice FitzGerald. Paul FitzGerald has a right of appeal against the Lord Chancellor's verdict by petitioning The Queen, Elizabeth II.[9]

In 2010, however, DNA evidence was presented that indicates that Paul FitzGerald is related to the wife of the 5th Duke, the former Lady Hermione Duncombe.[1] As reported in The Scotsman, "with the help of Dunfermline-based genealogist Lloyd Pitcairn, Mrs FitzGerald Caudill [Paul FitzGerald's aunt] traced Maud Crawford, the grand-daughter of Lady Hermione's younger sister Urica [sic] Duncombe. The results of the tests found that it was '41 times more probable' that Ms Crawford and Paul FitzGerald were extremely closely related than were from different families. The evidence that Paul FitzGerald is related to the family of the 5th Duke's wife is the first DNA evidence ever produced in the case, and may support Mrs FitzGerald Caudhill's long-held claim suggesting that her mysterious father was the son of Lady Hermione, the wife of the fifth Duke of Leinster."[2]

It had also previously been alleged[10] that the 9th Duke′s grandfather, the 7th Duke, was the biological son of the Earl of Wemyss and March. Had this been proven then neither the present Duke, nor any other male descendant of the 7th Duke, would be a legitimate heir of the 1st Duke of Leinster.

Ancestry

Family of Maurice FitzGerald, 9th Duke of Leinster
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 16. Charles FitzGerald, 4th Duke of Leinster
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 8. Gerald FitzGerald, 5th Duke of Leinster
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 17. Lady Caroline Leveson-Gower
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 4. Edward FitzGerald, 7th Duke of Leinster
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 18. William Duncombe, 1st Earl of Feversham
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 9. Lady Hermione Duncombe
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 19. Mabel Graham
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2. Gerald FitzGerald, 8th Duke of Leinster
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 20. George Etheridge
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 10. Jesse Edward Etheridge
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 5. May Juanita Etheridge
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 11. Theresa Grace Harriett Ann Summerell
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1. Maurice FitzGerald, 9th Duke of Leinster
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 24. Thomas Eustace Smith
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 12. Philip Eustace Smith of Rothley Crag
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 25. Martha Mary Dalrymple
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 6. Philip Smith
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 13. Ellen Hawkes
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 3. Anne Smith
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 14. John Clayton
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 7. Eleanor Clayton
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 30. Cadogan Hodgson-Cadogan
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 15. Florence Cadogan
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 31. Isabella Smith
 
 
 
 
 
 

References

  1. ↑ A Californian claimant, an 'escape' from the trenches and the fight for a dukedom from The Daily Telegraph retrieved 6 August 2014
  2. ↑ Debrett's Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ www.thepeerage.com
  4. ↑ http://www.lanwades.com/l_information/
  5. ↑ http://announcements.telegraph.co.uk/deaths/193369/fitzgerald
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[unreliable source?]
  7. ↑ British Dukes (Holding peerages granted by the Monarch) have Dukedoms; sovereign Dukes (continental rulers of territories without any overlord, i.e. the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg) have Duchies
  8. ↑ A Californian claimant, an 'escape' from the trenches and the fight for a dukedom - website of The Daily Telegraph
  9. ↑ American loses battle over Leinster dukedom claim - website IrishAbroad
  10. ↑ Angela Lambert, Unquiet Souls (Harper & Row, 1984), page 64

External links

Peerage of Ireland
Preceded by Duke of Leinster
2004–present		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom
Preceded by Gentlemen
His Grace The Duke of Leinster		 Succeeded by
His Grace The Duke of Wellington
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