Who was sir Charles FitzRoy?

Answer 1

Sir Charles Fitzroy was a 19th Century English aristocrat who was also a military officer and politician, and who served as the Governor of some overseas colonies.

Born on 10th June 1796, he was educated at Harrow School for Boys and went on to join the Royal Horse Guards at the age of just 16. He served in the Battle of Waterloo, where he was wounded, later being promoted to the rank of Captain and then Lieutenant-Colonel.

He married Lady Mary Lennox, daughter of the Duke of Richmond, at the age of 20, and served as Governor of Prince Edward Island and the Leeward Islands from 1841-45. Following this, he served as Governor-General of New South Wales in Australia for ten years. His wife Mary died in 1847, but he remarried in 1855. The same year his eldest son Augustus was killed in action on 11th September. in the Crimean War whilst serving in the Royal Regiment of Artillery. Sir Charles relinquished his Governorship of New South Wales soon afterwards and returned to England.

He died three years later on 16th February 1858, at the age of 61. His second wife Margaret Gordon died soon afterwards. His brother was Vice-Admiral Robert Fitzroy, the famous meteorologist and naval commander who was captain of HMS Beagle, the ship that Charles Darwin travelled to South America on- a trip that led to him developing his famous Theory of Evolution and the publication of The Origin of Species. Robert Fitzroy later went on to become Governor of New Zealand, but committed suicide in 1865 following a long struggle with depression and severe financial difficulties.