The Earl of Upper Ossory
The 2nd Earl of Upper Ossory by Thomas Beach.

John FitzPatrick, 2nd Earl of Upper Ossory FRS DL (2 May 1745 – 13 February 1818), styled 'Lord Gowran' from 1751 to 1758, was an Irish peer and member of parliament.

Biography

John FitzPatrick was born on 2 May 1745, the son of John FitzPatrick, 1st Earl of Upper Ossory, and Lady Evelyn (née Leveson-Gower; daughter of John Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Gower). He had a younger brother Richard, who also became a noted statesman and soldier, and two younger sisters, Mary and Louisa.

He succeeded to his father's title of earl of Upper Ossory in 1758 but as this was a title in the Irish peerage it did not entitle him to a seat in the British House of Lords. In 1767 he was instead elected to the House of Commons for Bedfordshire, a seat he held until 1794.[1] He was also Lord Lieutenant of Bedfordshire from 1771 to 1818.[2] In 1794, he was given the title of 'Baron Upper Ossory', of Ampthill in the County of Bedford, in the Peerage of Great Britain, which gave him a seat in the House of Lords.

In 1763, Fitzpatrick was in Italy with the bibliophile, Topham Beauclerk; where he bought old-master paintings and commissioned paintings from Gavin Hamilton.[3] His is also thought to have been a patron of John Higton, given his depiction of "Dogs at Ampthill Park" in 1810.

On returning to Britain, Fitzpatrick embarked on an affair with Anne Fitzroy, wife of Prime Minister Augustus Fitzroy, 3rd Duke of Grafton, (and daughter of Henry Liddell, 1st Baron Ravensworth). This resulted in the Prime Minister having an affair with Anne Parsons, a courtesan, the birth of a child, the duchess's divorce and her marriage to FitzPatrick in 1769.[4] Like his younger brother Richard, Fitzpatrick was a friend of Charles James Fox, whilst their half-sister Mary FitzPatrick had married Charles James Fox's older brother Stephen Fox, 2nd Baron Holland. As such Fitzpatrick became a father figure to his nephew Henry Vassall-Fox, 3rd Baron Holland on the death of his parents. He was also a noted friend to Horace Walpole; a large volume of correspondence between Walpole and Fitzpatrick's wife, the Countess of Upper Ossory survives.[5]

John Fitzpatrick died in February 1818, aged 72, when his titles became extinct. His natural son, John, succeeded to parts of his estates and was given the title of Baron Castletown in 1869; however on his death his estate was inherited by his step-son Henry Vassall-Fox, 3rd Baron Holland - who also adopted Ampthill Park as his seat. Fermyn Woods Hall, inherited from his father, passed to his daughters.

References

  1. ^ "FITZPATRICK, John, 2nd Earl of Upper Ossory [I] (1745-1818), of Ampthill, Beds. | History of Parliament Online".
  2. ^ "FITZPATRICK, John, 2nd Earl of Upper Ossory [I] (1745-1818), of Ampthill, Beds. | History of Parliament Online".
  3. ^ I. Bignamini, C. Hornsby, Digging And Dealing in Eighteenth-Century Rome (2010), p.334-335.
  4. ^ Peter Durrant, 'FitzRoy, Augustus Henry, third duke of Grafton (1735–1811)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Oct 2008 accessed 14 Feb 2017
  5. ^ "Yale edition of Walpole's correspondence". Archived from the original on 12 July 2015. Retrieved 11 July 2015.

External links

Media related to John FitzPatrick, 2nd Earl of Upper Ossory at Wikimedia Commons

Parliament of Great Britain Preceded byMarquess of TavistockRobert Henley-Ongley Member of Parliament for Bedfordshire 1767–1794 With: Robert Henley-Ongley 1767–1780St Andrew St John 1780–1784The Lord Ongley 1784–1785St Andrew St John 1784–1794 Succeeded bySt Andrew St JohnJohn Osborn Honorary titles Preceded byThe Duke of Bedford Lord Lieutenant of Bedfordshire 1771–1818 Succeeded byThe Lord Grantham Peerage of Ireland Preceded byJohn FitzPatrick Earl of Upper Ossory 1758–1818 Extinct Peerage of Great Britain New title Baron Upper Ossory 1794–1818 Extinct
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