Emily FitzGerald, Duchess of Leinster

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Emily FitzGerald, Duchess of Leinster (1731-1814), known before 1747 as The Lady Emily Lennox, from 1747 to 1761 as The Countess of Kildare and from 1761 to 1766 as The Marchioness of Kildare, was the second of the famous Lennox sisters, daughters of Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond and 2nd Duke of Lennox, and illegitimately descended from King Charles II of England.

In 1747, at the age of fifteen, she married the immensely wealthy James FitzGerald, 20th Earl of Kildare, and went to live in Ireland.

The marriage was a happy one, despite Lord Kildare's inability to be sexually faithful. The couple had nineteen children, and Lord Kildare was created successively Marquess of Kildare and Duke of Leinster in recognition of his contribution to the political life of his country. It was partly the Duke's influence that led to a rift between the Duchess and her eldest sister, Caroline Fox, Baroness Holland. After his death in 1773, the Duchess caused a minor sensation by marrying her children's tutor, William Ogilvie, with whom she had begun an affair some years earlier in Frescati House. Despite her remarriage she continued to be known as The Dowager Duchess of Leinster. Ogilvie was nine years her junior, and was the natural father of her youngest son from her first marriage. A further three children were born to them after their marriage.

Several of the Duchess's children predeceased her. One of her sons was Lord Edward FitzGerald, a major figure in the republican movement, who was killed during the Irish Rebellion of 1798.

[edit] References

Tillyard, Stella. Aristocrats: Caroline, Emily, Louisa, and Sarah Lennox, 1740-1832. London: Chatto & Windus, 1994.

[edit] Trivia

In 1999, a 6-part miniseries based on the lives of Emily Lennox and her sisters aired in the U.K. It was called Aristocrats. [1]