Author: FITZWYGRAM
Biography:
FITZWYGRAM
This vanity project, which opens with a poem "To Papa, on his Birthday," was the work of an unspecified number of the children of Sir Robert Fitzwygram, born Robert Wigram (1773-1843), and his wife Selina Hayes, who married on 3 Aug. 1812 at St. George's, Hanover Square. (Wigram, one of sixteen children of the first baronet, Sir Robert Wigram [1744-1830], with his second wife Eleanor Watts, of Walthamstow, changed his name to Fitzwygram by royal license in 1832.) No names are attached to specific poems, but if all the authors were between 12 and 20 years old at the time of publication, they must have been born between roughly 1815 and 1823. There were at least six of them, all presumably born in London and all baptised in Paddington during those years: Robert, Selina Frances, George Augustus Frederick, Augusta Catharine, Frederick Wellington John, and Sophia Matilda. There would be six sons and five daughters altogether. The family on both sides had Irish roots: Selina Hayes was the daughter of Sir John Macnamara Hayes, bt., of Co. Clare, and Sir Robert's paternal grandparents were both born at Wexford. Their wealth came from shipbuilding, trade with India, and whaling in the South Seas. Robert, the eldest son, entered Parliament as member for Fowey 1806-18, Lostwithiel 1818-26, and Wexford 1829-30. He was knighted in 1818, served as a Director of the Bank of England (1807-21), was a Fellow of the Royal Society, and succeeded to the baronetcy in 1830. Their country seat was Belmont Lodge, Malvern Wells, Worcs.; in 1841 the London house was in Connaught Place. He died at his Brighton home on 17 Dec. 1843. (findmypast.com 17 Sept. 2021; "Wigram, Eleanor . . . Lady Wigram," ODNB 17 Sept. 2021; "Sir Robert Wigram, 1st Baronet," Wikipedia 17 Sept. 2021; R. G. Thorne, "Wigram, Robert II," The History of Parliament . . . 1790-1820 online; The Atlas [London] 23 Dec. 1843) HJ