William FitzClarence, 2nd Earl of Munster

Arms of FitzClarence, Earl of Munster: The royal arms of King William IV (without the escutcheon of the Arch Treasurer of the Holy Roman Empire and without the Crown of Hanover) debruised by a baton sinister azure charged with three anchors or[1]

FitzClarence's father, George FitzClarence, 1st Earl of Munster, was an illegitimate son of King William IV by his long-time mistress Dorothea Jordan. Therefore, the second Earl of Munster was the great-grandson of King George III and first cousin once-removed of Queen Victoria. His mother was Mary Wyndham (d. 3 December 1842), the illegitimate daughter of George O'Brien Wyndham, 3rd Earl of Egremont.

FitzClarence succeeded as the 2nd Earl of Munster on the suicide of his father, on 20 March 1842. For the most part, FitzClarence led a typical Victorian upper-class life of hunting parties and balls.

He purchased a commission as ensign and lieutenant in the Scots Fusilier Guards on 1 July 1842.[2] On 7 April 1843, he purchased a cornetcy and sub-lieutenancy in the Grenadier Guards.[3] He purchased a lieutenancy on 1 May 1846[4] and a captaincy on 16 March 1849.[5] Munster retired from the Army in April 1851.[6]

FitzClarence married his first cousin Wilhelmina Kennedy-Erskine (27 June 1830 – 9 October 1906) on 17 April 1855. Her mother, Augusta FitzClarence, was the sister of his father, George Augustus FitzClarence. In later life, she became a novelist. They had nine children:

• Edward FitzClarence, Viscount FitzClarence (29 March 1856 – 1870)
• Hon Lionel Frederick Archibald FitzClarence (24 July 1857 – 24 March 1863)
• Major Geoffrey George Gordon FitzClarence, 3rd Earl of Munster (18 July 1859 – 2 February 1902); died without issue
• Hon Arthur Falkland Manners FitzClarence (18 October 1860 – 20 April 1861)
• Aubrey FitzClarence, 4th Earl of Munster (7 June 1862 – 1 January 1928); died without issue
• Hon William George FitzClarence (17 September 1864 – 4 October 1899), married Charlotte Elizabeth Williams
• Hon Harold Edward FitzClarence (15 November 1870 – 28 August 1926); father of Geoffrey FitzClarence, 5th Earl of Munster
• Lady Lillian Adelaide Katherine Mary FitzClarence (10 December 1873 – 15 July 1948), married Captain William Arthur Edward Boyd
• Lady Dorothea Augusta FitzClarence (5 May 1876 – 28 January 1942), married Major Chandos Brydges Lee-Warner

Lord Munster died, at 23 Palmeira Square, Hove, at the age of 77, when his second cousin Edward VII was on the throne of the United Kingdom. He was buried at Cuckfield, Sussex. He was succeeded in the earldom and other titles by his third but eldest surviving son, Geoffrey.

• Cokayne, George Edward, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, A. Sutton, Gloucester, 1982, volume IX, pp. 430–1.