William Wentworth-FitzWilliam, 7th Earl FitzWilliam

William ("Billy") Charles de Meuron Wentworth-FitzWilliam, 7th Earl FitzWilliam (25 July 1872-15 February 1943 Wentworth Woodhouse) was a British aristocrat. He was born in Pointe de Meuron, Canada and died at the family's seat. He inherited the title Earl FitzWilliam in 1902 on the death of his grandfather William Wentworth-FitzWilliam, 6th Earl FitzWilliam, as his father Viscount Milton had pre-deceased him.

On 24 June 1896, at St Paul's Cathedral, he married Lady Maud Frederica Elizabeth Dundas (b. 9 July 1877 Upleatham), the daughter of Lawrence Dundas, 1st Marquess of Zetland. They had five children;

*Lady Maud Lillian Elfreda Mary Wentworth-FitzWilliam (b. 19 August 1898); married the 3rd Earl of Wharncliffe
*Lady Marjorie Joan Mary Wentworth-FitzWilliam (b. 19 October 1900)
*Lady Donatia Faith Mary Wentworth-FitzWilliam (14 March 1904-20 October 1943)
*Lady Helena Albreda Marie Gabrielle Wentworth-FitzWilliam (25 May 1907-1970)
* William Henry Lawrence Peter Wentworth-FitzWilliam, 8th Earl FitzWilliam (31 December 1910-13 May 1948)

On his succession to the Earldom, he became one of the richest men in Britain, inheriting an estate of significant land, industrial and mineral-right holdings worth £3.3 billion in 2007 terms. [Bailey, C (2007). "Black Diamonds: The Rise and Fall of an English Dynasty", London: Penguin. ISBN 0-670-91542-2]

Controversy

The unusual circumstances of his birth in a remote part of Canada's frontier lands were later to cause major controversy within the family. The accusation was that he was a changeling: an unrelated baby inserted into the family line, to purge the bloodline of the epilepsy from which his ostensible forebears had suffered, and to provide that arm of the family with a male heir to inherit the Earldom. ["ibid." pp14-35]

References