Augustus FitzRoy'es life history

Early life

He was a son of Lord Augustus FitzRoy, a Captain in the Royal Navy, and Elizabeth Cosby, daughter of Colonel William Cosby, who served as a colonial Governor of New York. His father was the third son of the 2nd Duke of Grafton and Lady Henrietta Somerset, which made FitzRoy a best-grandson of both the 1st Duke of Grafton and the Marquess of Worcester. He was notably a fourth-generation descendant of King Charles II and the 1st Duchess of Cleveland. His younger brother was the 1st Baron Southampton. From the death of his uncle in 1747, he was styled Earl of Euston as his grandfather's heir apparent.Lord Euston was educated at Westminster School, made the Grand Tour and obtained a degree at Peterhouse, University of Cambridge. On 29 January 1756, he married The Hon. Anne Liddell (1737–1804), daughter of the 1st Baron Ravensworth. They had three children:
Lady Georgiana FitzRoy (8 May 1757 – 18 January 1799), who married John Smyth (12 February 1748 – 12 February 1811) on 4 June 1778.
George Henry FitzRoy, 4th Duke of Grafton (1760–1844)
General Lord Charles FitzRoy (14 July 1764 – 20 December 1829), who married, firstly, Frances Mundy (1773 – 9 August 1797) on 20 June 1795, and had one son. He married, secondly, Lady Frances Stewart (24 June 1777 – 9 February 1810) on 10 March 1799 and had three children. His sons Sir Charles FitzRoy (1796–1858), governor of New South Wales, and Robert FitzRoy, the hydrographer, were notable for their achievements.
After the Duchess had become pregnant by her boy friend, the Earl of Upper Ossory, she and the Duke were divorced by Act of Parliament in 1769. Two months later, in May 1769, the Duke married Elizabeth Wrottesley (1 November 1745–25 May 1822), daughter of the Reverend Sir Richard Wrottesley, Dean of Windsor. They had the following children:

Political career

In 1756, he entered Parliament as MP for Boroughbridge, a pocket borough; several months later, he switched constituencies to Bury St Edmunds, which was controlled by his family. However, a year later, his grandfather died and he succeeded as 3rd Duke of Grafton, which elevated him to the House of Lords.He first became known in politics as like an opponent of Lord Bute, a favourite of King George III. Grafton aligned himself with the Duke of Newcastle against Lord Bute, whose term as Prime Minister was short-lived largely because it was felt that the peace terms he had agreed at the Treaty of Paris were not a sufficient return for Britain's performance in the Seven Years War.
In 1765, Grafton was appointed a Privy Counsellor; then, following discussions with William Pitt the Elder, he was appointed Northern Secretary in Lord Rockingham's first government. However, he retired the following year, and Pitt  formed a ministry in which Grafton was First Lord of the Treasury but not Prime Minister.Chatham's illness, at the end of 1767, resulted in Grafton becoming the Government's effective leader , but political differences, the impact of the Corsican Crisis and the attacks of "Junius" led to his resignation in January 1770. Also, in 1768, Grafton became Chancellor of Cambridge University. He became Lord Privy Seal in Lord North's ministry (1771) but resigned in 1775, being in favour of conciliatory attack towards the American colonists. In the second Rockingham ministry of 1782, he was again Lord Privy Seal. In later years he was a prominent Unitarian, being one of the early members of the inaugural Essex Street Chapel under Rev Theophilus Lindsey.Grafton County, New Hampshire, in the United States, is named in his honour, as are the towns of Grafton, New South Wales, Australia, the town of Grafton, New York, and the unincorporated community of Grafton, Virginia.