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Lord Otho FitzGerald
Lord Otho Augustus FitzGerald PC (10 October 1827 – 19 November 1882) was a British soldier and Liberal politician. He notably served as Comptroller of the Household under William Gladstone between 1868 and 1874. He was also a noted amateur composer. Early lifeAlthough the family home of the Duke of Leinster was Carton House near Maynooth, County Kildare (Ireland), FitzGerald was born at Harrington House, Northamptonshire (England), the home of his mother. He was the third son of Augustus FitzGerald, 3rd Duke of Leinster, by his wife Lady Charlotte Augusta Stanhope. Charles FitzGerald, 4th Duke of Leinster, was his elder brother.[1] Another brother, Gerald Fitzgerald (1821–1886) was, like Otho, an amateur composer, photographer[2] and a noted artist. His sister, Lady Jane Seymour FitzGerald, was the wife of George Repton, an MP for St Albans[3] and Warwick.[4] was a British Conservative Party politician[5] His paternal grandparents were William FitzGerald, 2nd Duke of Leinster and Emilia Olivia St George (a daughter of the 1st Baron St George). His maternal grandparents were General Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl of Harrington and Jane Fleming (a daughter of Sir John Fleming, 1st Baronet), a lady of the Bedchamber to the Queen Charlotte.[6] CareerFitzgerald was an officer in the Royal Horse Guards and served as a Gentleman of the Bedchamber to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland.[1] He entered the House of Commons in 1865 as member for Kildare, a seat he held until 1874.[1][7] In 1866 he was sworn of the Privy Council[8] and made Treasurer of the Household under Lord Russell,[9] a post he only held until the fall of the Liberal government in June of that year.[10] He returned to office as Comptroller of the Household under William Gladstone in 1868,[11] a post he retained until the government fell in 1874.[12] Musical compositionsFitzgerald probably enjoyed a private musical education. He published piano music in Dublin with Robinson & Bussell (later Henry Bussel). Works include:[13]
The composer Oscar Krahmer dedicated his piano work The Garrison Ball Galop (1857) to Otho Fitzgerald.[14] Personal lifeOn 14 December 1861 Lord Otho married Ursula Lucy Grace, Lady Londesborough (née Bridgeman), daughter of Vice Admiral Charles Orlando Bridgeman and widow of Lord Londesborough.[1] This was regarded by his contemporaries as a fortune-hunting match.[citation needed] They had two children:[15]
Fitzgerald for a while owned Oakley Court on the Thames, at Bray in Berkshire.[15] He died at Bray in November 1882, aged 55. Lady Otho FitzGerald only survived him by a year and died in November 1883.[1] They are buried at St Andrew's Church, Clewer.[15] References
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