Author: Fitz-gerald, W. R. Seymour
Biography:
FITZ-GERALD, W. R. Seymour (1818-85: ODNB)
His full name was William Robert Seymour Vesey Fitz-Gerald (or Fitzgerald) and he was born in Dublin, one of two illegitimate children of William Vesey-Fitzgerald, baron Fitzgerald and Vesey (d 1843), who left him a share of a fortune of over £150,000; the name of his mother is not known. He was educated at Oxford (matric. Christ Church 1833, BA Oriel 1837, MA 1844, DCL 1863). Called to the bar in 1839, he married Maria Triphena Seymour in 1846. She died in 1865, but the couple had three children who lived to maturity, two daughters who were living with their father in 1885, and a son in the India Office. Seymour Fitzgerald had an active political career. He was an MP 1848-65 and 1874-5; office-holder under different administrations; member of the Privy Council; Governor of Bombay 1866-72; magistrate and deputy lieutenant of Sussex; and Chief Commissioner of Charities for England 1875-85. He was made a Knight Commander of the Star of India in 1866, Grand Cross of the same order in 1868. Towards the end of his life he encountered some financial difficulties and courted a wealthy widow, Mrs. Bousfield, to whom he was secretly engaged. She died before the engagement was made public, without having changed her will which, however, was contested by other parties, with Sir William called in as a witness. (Here he mentioned his surviving family. The will was upheld.) He died at his home in Warwick Square, London, on 28 June 1885. (ODNB 6 Sept. 2021; ancestry.com 6 Sept. 2021; Alumni Oxonienses; Barrow Herald and Furness Advertiser 7 Feb. 1885; Saturday Review of Politics 59 [1885] 169)