In February 1789, guided by compass, he traversed the country, practically unknown to white men, from Fredericton, New Brunswick to Quebec, falling in with Indians by the way, with whom he fraternized. The romantic temperament of the young Irishman found congenial soil in the wild surroundings of unexplored Canadian forests, and his enthusiasm for a life closer to nature may have been fortified by study of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's writings, for which at a later period Lord Edward expressed his admiration. Dejected by unrequited love for his cousin Georgina Lennox (who later married the 3rd Earl Bathurst), he sailed for New Brunswick to join the 54th Regiment with the rank of Major. After spending a short time at Woolwich to complete his military education, he made a tour through Spain in 1787. In Parliament he acted with the small Opposition Irish Patriot Party group led by Henry Grattan, but took no prominent part in debate. In 1783 FitzGerald returned to Ireland, where his brother, the 2nd Duke of Leinster, had procured his election to the Irish Parliament as a Member for Athy, a seat he held until 1790. FitzGerald was evacuated from Charleston, South Carolina in 1782 when the British forces abandoned the city.

Lord Edward freed Small and employed him to the end of his life. He was seriously wounded at the Battle of Eutaw Springs on 8 September 1781, his life being saved by an escaped slave named Tony Small (nicknamed 'Faithful Tony').FitzGerald commissioned a portrait of Tony Small by John Roberts in 1786. He spent most of his childhood in Frascati House at Blackrock in Dublin where he was tutored by William Ogilvie in a manner inspired by Rousseau's Emile, chiefly directed to the acquisition of knowledge that would fit him for a military careerįitzGerald joined the British Army in 1779 and he served on the staff of Lord Rawdon in the southern theatre of the American Revolutionary War. In 1773 his father died and his mother soon afterwards married William Ogilvie, who superintended FitzGerald's education. Join: Irish Roots Project Discuss: irish_rootsįitzGerald, the fifth son of the 1st Duke of Leinster and the Lady Emily Lennox the daughter of Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond, was born at Carton House, near Dublin. Edward FitzGerald is a profile under management of the Irish Roots Project.

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