Richard FitzWilliam, 6th Viscount FitzWilliam explained

Richard FitzWilliam, 6th Viscount FitzWilliam (24 July 1711 - 25 May 1776), KB, PC, FRS, of Mount Merrion, near Dublin, Ireland, was an Anglo-Irish peer and property developer.

Origins

He was the eldest son and heir of Richard FitzWilliam, 5th Viscount FitzWilliam by his wife Frances Shelley, a daughter of Sir John Shelley, 3rd Baronet and his first wife Bridget Nevill.

Career

He replaced his father as Vice-Admiral of Leinster in 1728. He succeeded his father in the viscountcy in 1743 and took his seat in the Irish House of Lords. He was created a Knight Companion of the Order of the Bath (KB) in 1744 and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1747.^[1] He was sworn of the Irish Privy Council in 1766. He lived for a time at Richmond Green in Surrey with his father-in-law Sir Matthew Decker, 1st Baronet, but later moved back to Mount Merrion, the family's principal seat near Dublin.

Marriage and children

On 3 May 1744, he married Catherine Decker, eldest daughter and co-heiress of Sir Matthew Decker, 1st Baronet, a wealthy merchant of Dutch origin, by his wife Henrietta Watkins, at Sir Matthew's house in St James's Square.^[2] Horace Walpole thought the marriage notable enough to mention in his correspondence.^[3] By Catherine he had issue including:

• Richard FitzWilliam, 7th Viscount FitzWilliam (c. 22 August 1745 - 1816), eldest son and heir, who inherited the Decker mansion and art collection at Richmond and died unmarried and without legitimate issue; by his will, he founded the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge.
• William Fitzwilliam, (c. 18 September 1749 Richmond - pre-1816)
• John FitzWilliam, 8th Viscount Fitzwilliam, (c.21 Oct 1752 Richmond – 1830)
• Thomas FitzWilliam, 9th Viscount Fitzwilliam (c.3 September 1755 Richmond - January 1833) ^[4]
• Henrietta FitzWilliam, (c. 16 October 1746 Richmond -)
• Mary FitzWilliam, (c. 20 August 1748, Richmond -)
• Hon. Catherine FitzWilliam, (c.30 Oct 1753 Richmond -)

Death

Lord FitzWilliam died on 25 May 1776 at Mount Merrion and was buried at Donnybrook Cemetery.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Fellows details. Royal Society. 16 February 2019.
2. The Register of Marriages in the Parish of St James within the Liberty of Westminster. 1723-1754. 3 May 1744.
3. Letters of Horace Walpole, Earl of Orford, to Sir Horace Mann Richard Bentley London 1833 Vol. 2 p.12
4. Book: A genealogical history of the dormant, abeyant, forfeited, and extinct peerages of the British empire. Sir Bernard Burke. Harrison. 1866.