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{{short description|Anglo-Irish nobleman, soldier and politician}}
{{Moresources|date=January 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}}
{{Use Irish English|date=December 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[Lieutenant-General (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant-General]] [[Grace (style)|His Grace]]
| name = The Duke of Leinster
| honorific-suffix = [[Privy Council of Ireland|PC (Ire)]]
| image = 1stDukeOfLeinster.jpg
| imagesize =
| caption = Portrait by [[Joshua Reynolds]]
| birth_date = {{birth date|1722|05|29|df=y}}
| birth_place =
| death_date = {{death date and age|1773|11|19|1722|05|29|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Leinster House]], [[Dublin]]
| nationality =
| office1 = Member of the [[House of Lords]] [[Lords Temporal|Lord Temporal]]
| term_start1 = 1747
| term_end1 = 19 November 1773 [[Hereditary peer|Hereditary Peerage]]
| successor1 = [[William FitzGerald, 2nd Duke of Leinster]]
| party =
| alma_mater =
| spouse = {{Marriage|[[Emily FitzGerald, Duchess of Leinster|Lady Emily Lennox]]|7 February 1747}}
| children = 18, including: {{Plainlist|
* [[William FitzGerald, 2nd Duke of Leinster]]
* [[Charles FitzGerald, 1st Baron Lecale]]
* [[Charlotte Strutt, 1st Baroness Rayleigh]]
* [[Lord Henry FitzGerald]]
* [[Lord Edward FitzGerald]]}}
| parents = {{Plainlist|
* [[Robert FitzGerald, 19th Earl of Kildare]]
* Lady Mary O'Brien}}
}}
[[Lieutenant-General (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant-General]] '''James FitzGerald, 1st Duke of Leinster''', [[Privy Council of Ireland|PC (Ire)]] (29 May 1722 – 19 November 1773), styled '''Lord Offaly''' until 1743 and known as '''The Earl of Kildare''' between 1743 and 1761 and as '''The Marquess of Kildare''' between 1761 and 1766, was an [[Anglo-Irish]] nobleman, soldier and politician.

==Background==
Leinster was the son of [[Robert FitzGerald, 19th Earl of Kildare]], and Lady Mary, daughter of [[William O'Brien, 3rd Earl of Inchiquin]].<ref name="DIB">{{cite journal |last1=Magennis |first1=Eoin |title=Fitzgerald, James |url=https://www.dib.ie/biography/fitzgerald-james-a3157 |website=Dictionary of Irish Biography |publisher=Royal Irish Academy |access-date=11 August 2024 |doi=10.3318/dib.003157.v1 |date=1 October 2009|url-access=subscription |doi-access=free }}</ref>

==Career==
Leinster was a member of the [[Irish House of Commons]] for [[Athy (Parliament of Ireland constituency)|Athy]] from 1741 before succeeding his father as 20th Earl of Kildare in 1743.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/irelandcommons.htm |title=leighrayment.com Irish House of Commons 1692-1800 |access-date=2009-12-14 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090601105535/http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/irelandcommons.htm |archive-date=2009-06-01 }}</ref> He was sworn of the [[Privy Council of Ireland|Irish Privy Council]] in 1746<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20080607022603/http://leighrayment.com/pcouncil/pcouncilI.htm leighrayment.com Privy Counsellors - Ireland]}}</ref> and in 1747, on the occasion of his marriage (see below), he was created '''Viscount Leinster''', of [[Taplow]] in the [[Buckinghamshire|County of Buckingham]], in the [[Peerage of Great Britain]], and took his seat in the British [[House of Lords]] that same year.<ref>{{cite book |title=Journals of the House of Lords |date=1746 |publisher=H.M. Stationery Office |page=54 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fRtDAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA54 |access-date=12 August 2024 |language=en}}</ref> From 1749 to 1755 he was one of the leaders of the Popular Party in Ireland,{{Citation needed|date=December 2009}} and served as the country's [[Master-General of the Irish Ordnance|Master-General of the Ordnance]] between 1758 and 1766, becoming Colonel of the [[Royal Irish Artillery]] in 1760. He was promoted to [[Major-General]] in 1761 and to [[Lieutenant-General]] in 1770.<ref name="DIB" />

In 1761 Lord Kildare was created '''Earl of Offaly''' and '''Marquess of Kildare''' in the [[Peerage of Ireland]] and in 1766 he was further honoured when he was made '''Duke of Leinster''', becoming by this time the Premier Duke, Marquess and Earl in the Peerage of Ireland.<ref>Webb, Alfred. "A Compendium of Irish Biography", page 191. Dublin: M.H. Gill & Son (1878)</ref>

==Family==
Leinster married the 15-year-old [[Emily FitzGerald, Duchess of Leinster|Lady Emily Lennox]] (6 October 1731 – [[London]], 27 March 1814), daughter of [[Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond]] and one of the famous [[Lennox Sisters]], in London on 7 February 1747. She was a great-granddaughter of [[Charles II of England|King Charles II]]<ref name="dib-Emily">{{cite journal |last1=Kleinman |first1=Sylvie |last2=Clarke |first2=Frances |title=Fitzgerald (Lennox), Emily (Emilia Mary) |url=https://www.dib.ie/biography/fitzgerald-lennox-emily-emilia-mary-a3143 |website=Dictionary of Irish Biography |publisher=Royal Irish Academy |access-date=11 August 2024 |doi=10.3318/dib.003143.v1 |date=1 October 2009|url-access=subscription |doi-access=free }}</ref> and was therefore a distant fifth cousin of [[King George III]] (both of them were descended from King [[James VI and I]]). The couple had nineteen children:
*George FitzGerald, Earl of Offaly (15 January 1748 – Richmond House, 26 September 1765).
*[[William FitzGerald, 2nd Duke of Leinster]] (Arlington Place, Piccadilly, [[London]], 12 March 1749 – Carton House, Kildare, 20 October 1804).
*Lady Caroline FitzGerald (1750 – 1754).
*Lady Emily Mary FitzGerald (15 March 1751 – 8 April 1818), married [[Charles Coote, 1st Earl of Bellomont]] and Baron Coote of Coolony. The couple had five children, one son who died young (born 1776) and four daughters. Emily died in Penzance, Cornwall in 1818 after a lingering illness.
*Lady Henrietta FitzGerald (1753 – 1763).
*Lady Caroline FitzGerald (born and died 1755).
*[[Charles FitzGerald, 1st Baron Lecale]] (30 June 1756 – 30 June 1810).
*[[Charlotte Strutt, 1st Baroness Rayleigh|Lady Charlotte Mary Gertrude FitzGerald]] (29 May 1758 – 13 September 1836), married [[Joseph Strutt (MP)|Joseph Strutt]] and was made first Baroness Rayleigh. Had issue.
*Lady Louisa Bridget FitzGerald (1760 – 1765).
*[[Lord Henry FitzGerald]] (30 July 1761 – 8 July 1829), general; married Charlotte Boyle and had issue, who take by inheritance the surname "de Ros".
*Lady Sophia Sarah Mary FitzGerald (1762 – 21 March 1845).
*[[Lord Edward FitzGerald]] (15 October 1763 – 4 June 1798), revolutionary and prominent leader of the [[United Irishmen]] during the [[Irish Rebellion of 1798|1798 rising]].
*Lord Robert Stephen FitzGerald (1765 – 2 January 1833), a diplomat; married Sophia Charlotte Fielding and had issue.
*Lord Gerald FitzGerald (January 1766 – 1788). Drowned, went down with the ship in which he was serving.
*Lord Augustus FitzGerald (1767 – 1771).
*Lady Fanny FitzGerald (1770 – 1775).
*Lady [[Lucy Anne FitzGerald]] (1771 – 1851), who took part in the Irish Rebellion of 1798. She was married to Admiral Sir [[Thomas Foley (Royal Navy officer)|Thomas Foley]], who served with distinction under Lord Nelson. They had no children.
*Lady Louisa FitzGerald (1772 – 1776).
*Lord George Simon FitzGerald (16 April 1773 – 1783). Recognized as a son of Lord Kildare, but was in fact the biological son of his brother's tutor, [[William Ogilvie (Ardglass)|William Ogilvie]].

Leinster died at [[Leinster House]], [[Dublin]], in November 1773, aged 51, and was buried in the city's [[Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin|Christ Church Cathedral]]. He was succeeded by his second (but eldest surviving) son, [[William FitzGerald, 2nd Duke of Leinster|William, Marquess of Kildare]]. The Duchess of Leinster caused a minor sensation by marrying her lover William Ogilvie in 1774, but continued to be known as The Dowager Duchess of Leinster. She had a further three children by him. She died in [[London]] in March 1814, aged 82.<ref name="dib-Emily" />

==Popular culture==
In 1999, Irish Screen, [[BBC America]] and [[WGBH-TV|WGBH]] produced [[Aristocrats (TV series)|''Aristocrats'']], a six-part limited television series based on the lives of Emily Lennox and her sisters.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Mermelstein|first=David|date=1999-10-08|title=Aristocrats|url=https://variety.com/1999/tv/reviews/aristocrats-3-1117752230/|access-date=2021-04-22|website=Variety|language=en-US}}</ref> Leinster was portrayed by [[Ben Daniels]].

==Ancestry==
{{ahnentafel
|collapsed=yes |align=center
|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
|1= 1. '''James FitzGerald, 1st Duke of Leinster'''
|2= 2. [[Robert FitzGerald, 19th Earl of Kildare]]
|3= 3. Lady Mary O'Brien
|4= 4. Hon. Robert FitzGerald
|5= 5. Mary Clotworthy
|6= 6. [[William O'Brien, 3rd Earl of Inchiquin]]
|7= 7. Mary Villiers
|8= 8. [[George FitzGerald, 16th Earl of Kildare]]
|9= 9. Lady Joan Boyle
|10= 10. James Clotworthy
|12= 12. [[William O'Brien, 2nd Earl of Inchiquin]]
|13= 13. Lady Margareth Boyle
|14= 14. [[Edward Villiers (1620–1689)|Edward Villiers]]
|15= 15. Lady Frances Howard
}}

==References==
{{reflist}}
*[http://www.genealogics.org/pedigree.php?personID=I00000033&tree=LEO Pedigree of the 1st Duke of Leinster]

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|ie}}
{{s-bef| before = [[Sir Walter Borrowes, 4th Baronet|Sir Walter Borrowes, 4th Bt]] [[Marcus Anthony Morgan|Marcus Morgan]] }}
{{s-ttl| title = [[Member of Parliament]] for [[Athy (Parliament of Ireland constituency)|Athy]]
| with = [[Marcus Anthony Morgan|Marcus Morgan]]| years = 1741 – 1743 }}
{{s-aft| after = [[Marcus Anthony Morgan|Marcus Morgan]] [[Walter Weldon (politician)|Walter Weldon]] }}
{{s-reg|ie}}
{{s-new| rows = 2 | creation}}
{{s-ttl| title = [[Duke of Leinster]]| years = 1766 – 1773 }}
{{s-aft| rows = 3 | after = [[William FitzGerald, 2nd Duke of Leinster|William FitzGerald]] }}
{{s-ttl| title = [[Marquess of Kildare]]| years = 1761 – 1773 }}
{{s-bef| before = [[Robert FitzGerald, 19th Earl of Kildare|Robert FitzGerald]] }}
{{s-ttl| title = [[Earl of Kildare]]| years = 1743 – 1773 }}
{{s-reg|gb}}
{{s-new|creation }}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Viscount Leinster]]| years=1747–1773}}
{{s-aft|after=[[William FitzGerald, 2nd Duke of Leinster|William FitzGerald]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leinster, James FitzGerald, 1st Duke of}}
[[Category:FitzGerald dynasty|James]]
[[Category:1722 births]]
[[Category:1773 deaths]]
[[Category:Irish MPs 1727–1760]]
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Kildare constituencies]]
[[Category:Politicians from County Kildare]]
[[Category:Politicians from County Dublin]]
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of Ireland]]
[[Category:Dukes of Leinster (1766 creation)]]
[[Category:Peers of Great Britain created by George II]]
[[Category:Barons Offaly]]

James FitzGerald, 1st Duke of Leinster - Revision history

imported>OAbot: Open access bot: doi updated in citation with #oabot.