Lord Adolphus FitzClarence

Rear-Admiral Lord Adolphus FitzClarence, GCH, ADC, RN (18 February, 1802 – 17 May, 1856) was a British naval officer.

FitzClarence was born at Bushy Park, Middlesex and was an illegitimate child of Prince William, Duke of Clarence (later William IV) and his mistress, Dorothy Jordan.Cokayne et al, "The Complete Peerage", volume II, p.2035] He attended a boarding school in Sunbury-on-Thames before being sent to sea at the age of eleven in 1813, aboard HMS "Impregnable". He subsequently served as a midshipman aboard HMS "Newcastle" based in North America and then later in the Mediterranean Sea. On receiving his commission in 1824, he transferred to HMS "Euryalus" and after being promoted to the rank of Commander in 1832, he later served aboard HMS "Brisk" and "Redwing" in the North Sea. When promoted to Captain in 1826, he commanded HMS "Ariadne" that year, HMS "Challenger" in 1827 and HMS "Pallas" in 1828.

On the accession of FitzClarence's father as king in 1830, he took command of the Royal Yacht, HMY Royal George. His father also granted him and his siblings the rank of a younger son/daughter of a marquess by Royal Warrant of Precedence in 1831, enabling him to prefix "Lord" before his name and he was knighted the following year.Cokayne et al, "The Complete Peerage", volume II, p.2035] He was also appointed Groom of the Robes in 1830 and a Lord of the Bedchamber in 1833.

On the death of his father and the accession of his cousin, Victoria in 1837, FitzClarence retained command of the Royal Yacht (until he was promoted to a Rear-Admiral in 1853) and his allowance allowed to continue. The queen reported that he 'burst into tears, and said it was unexpected, for they [the FitzClarences] did not dare to hope for anything' (as illegitimate children of a former monarch). [Viscount Esher, "Queen Victoria: a selection from Her Majesty's diaries between the years 1832 and 1840", 2 volumes (1912)] In 1848, he also became a naval aide-de-camp to the queen and retained the office until he died, unmarried, at Newburgh Priory in 1856.Cokayne et al, "The Complete Peerage", volume II, p.2035]

Ancestry

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1= 1. Lord Adolphus FitzClarence
2= 2. William IV of the United Kingdom
3= 3. Dorothy Jordan
4= 4. George III of the United Kingdom
5= 5. Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
6= 6. Francis Bland
7= 7. Grace Phillips
8= 8. Frederick, Prince of Wales
9= 9. Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha
10= 10. Charles Louis Frederick, Duke of Mecklenburg-Mirow
11= 11. Princess Elizabeth Albertine of Saxe-Hildburghausen
12= 12. Nathaniel Bland
13= 13. Elizabeth Heaton
16= 16. George II of Great Britain
17= 17. Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach
18= 18. Frederick II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
19= 19. Magdalena Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst
20= 20. Adolf Frederick II, Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
21= 21. Princess Christiane Emilie of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen
22= 22. Ernest Frederick I, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen
23= 23. Sophia Albertine of Erbach-Erbach
24= 24. James Bland
25= 25. Lucy Brewster

Notes and references

ource

* [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/9541 K. D. Reynolds, "FitzClarence, Lord Adolphus (1802–1856)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 14 Oct 2007]