John FitzPatrick, 1st Baron Castletown

Castletown, baptised John Wilson, was born in London, the illegitimate son of John FitzPatrick, 2nd Earl of Upper Ossory and Elizabeth Wilson. He had a brother, Richard, who died young, and an elder sister, Emma Mary (died 25 September 1882), who married Robert Vernon Smith (later Lord Lyveden).{{cite book |last1=Burke |first1=Bernard |title=A Genealogical History of the Dormant: Abeyant, Forfeited, and Extinct Peerages of the British Empire |date=1866 |publisher=Harrison |page=210 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OpxfAAAAcAAJ&q=%22earls%20of%20upper%20ossory%22 |access-date=16 September 2024 |language=en}} After their father's death in 1818, they were raised at Ampthill Park under the guardianship of their cousin Henry Vassall-Fox, 3rd Baron Holland (1773–1840), who inherited Ampthill from the earl.{{cite news |title= Obituary |work=The Times | date = 23 January 1883 |page=6}} They were also under the guardianship of their half-sisters, Lady Anne and Lady Gertrude Fitzpatrick.Westminster, London, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754–1935

He was educated at Eton.{{cite book |last1=Boase |first1=Frederic |title=Modern English Biography |date=1892 |publisher=Netherton and Worth, For the author |page=570 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GIVmAAAAMAAJ&dq=John+Wilson+FitzPatrick%2C+1st+Baron+Castletown+23+sept+1807&pg=PA569 |access-date=17 September 2024 |language=en}}

He inherited parts of his father's estates in Ireland in 1823, when he reached the age of majority.

Wilson, who in 1842 assumed the surname of FitzPatrick by Royal Licence, was appointed High Sheriff of Queen's County in 1836. He was then elected to the House of Commons for Queen's County in 1837, a seat he represented until 1841, and again from 1847 to 1852 and from 1865 to 1869. He was admitted to the Irish Privy Council in 1848.

In 1869, he was raised to the peerage as Baron Castletown, of Upper Ossory, reviving an ancient title that had belonged to the FitzPatricks around 1500. Apart from his parliamentary career he was also Lord Lieutenant of Queen's County from 1855 to 1883.{{cite book |title=Burke's genealogical and heraldic history of peerage, baronetage and knightage |date=1914 |publisher=London, Burke's Peerage Limited |page=395 |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_Pf8cAAAAYAAJ/page/394/mode/2up?view=theater |access-date=17 September 2024}}

Lord Castletown married Augusta Mary Douglas, daughter of Reverend Archibald Douglas, in 1830. They had one son and six daughters.

• Hon. Bernard (1848–1937), succeeded as second baron
• Hon. Gertrude (died 26 January 1912), married in 1862 Edward Randal Skeffington-Smyth
• Hon. Augusta Frederica Anne (died 24 February 1903), married in 1861, Lt.-Col. Hon. Thomas Vesey Dawson, son of Lord Cremorne, killed in action at the Battle of Inkerman. She married secondly in 1856 Charles Magniac.
• Hon. Florence Virginia Fox (died 5 March 1912), married in 1838 Gen. Sir George Higginson
• Hon. Cecilia Emily Emma (died Oct/Nov 1918, buried Nov 8th 1918 at St.John's, Hove.), married in 1868 Hon. Lewis Strange Wingfield
• Hon. Edith Susan Esther (died 1 December 1906), married in 1862, as his second wife, Sir Charles Murray
• Hon. Olivia Douglas Amy (died 22 May 1893), married in 1869 Sir John Sebright, 9th Baronet

He died in 1883, aged 71, just four months after the death of his only sister, Lady Lyvedon. Lady Castletown died in 1899.

Lord Castletown was succeeded in the barony by his only son, Bernard, who died without heirs in 1937, at which time the barony became extinct.{{cite news |title= Obituary: Lord Castletown of Upper Ossory – Sportsman and Irish Landlord |work=The Times |date=1 June 1937 |page=21 }}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://fitzpatricksociety.com/ The Fitzpatrick – Mac Giolla Phádraig Clan Society]
• {{Hansard-contribs | mr-john-fitzpatrick | John FitzPatrick}}
• [http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F60496 National Archives items relating to John Wilson Fitzpatrick]

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{{succession box | title=Member of Parliament for Queen's County |with = Sir Charles Coote | before=Sir Charles Coote
Thomas Vesey | after= Sir Charles Coote
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{{succession box | title=Member of Parliament for Queen's County|with = Thomas Vesey | before=Sir Charles Coote
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{{succession box | title=Member of Parliament for Queen's County|with = Francis Plunkett Dunne 1865–1868
Kenelm Digby 1868–1869 | before=Michael Dunne
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{{succession box | title=Lord Lieutenant of Queen's County | before=The Viscount de Vesci | years=1855–1883 | after=The Viscount de Vesci}}

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{{s-ttl | title=Baron Castletown | years=1869–1883}}

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Category:1809 births

Category:1883 deaths

Category:19th-century Irish politicians

1

Category:Lord-lieutenants of Queen's County

Category:Members of the Privy Council of Ireland

FitzPatrick, John

Category:People educated at Eton College

Wilson, John

FitzPatrick, John

FitzPatrick, John

FitzPatrick, John

Category:UK MPs who were granted peerages

John

Category:High sheriffs of Queen's County

Category:Politicians from County Laois

Category:Peers of the United Kingdom created by Queen Victoria