Augustus Henry Fitzroy

Augustus Henry Fitzroy's ancestor was one of the three illegitimate sons of King Charles II. Fitzroy studied at Peterhouse, Cambridge, and received his MA degree. He was elected to Parliament in 1756, but took his seat in the House of Lords after he inherited the ducal title from his grandfather in 1757. Grafton's first ministerial post was in Rockingham's Government in 1765, from which he resigned the following year over the refusal of Rockingham to bring William Pitt into his ministry. He became First Lord of the Treasury when Pitt became prime minister in July 1766, and somewhat reluctantly had to take control of the Government at the age of 31 because of the ill-health of Pitt (now in the Lords as the Earl of Chatham). Much of 1767 was spent in efforts to reconstruct Chatham's failing Government, and in October of the following year Grafton became prime minister when Chatham finally resigned. His short period of office was taken up with the American colonial situation, concerning which he believed that all duties on the colonies should be removed — except that on tea. His administration also had to deal with the repeated attempts of John Wilkes, who had been convicted of seditious libel, to take his seat in Parliament. Grafton's ministry broke up in January 1770, although he agreed to serve as Lord Privy Seal under Lord North in 1771, a post he gave up in 1775 following disagreement over North's American policy. Biography sources: [5, pp. 52-57]