Charles William Wentworth Fitzwilliam, 5th Earl Fitzwilliam in the peerage of Ireland and 3rd Earl Fitzwilliam in the peerage of Great Britain, (4 May 1786 – 4 October 1857) was a British nobleman and politician. He was president three times of the Royal Statistical Society in 1838–1840, 1847–1849, and 1853–1855; and president of the British Association for the Advancement of Science in its inaugural year (1831–2).
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Early life
He was born on 4 May 1786 as the only son of William Fitzwilliam, 4th Earl Fitzwilliam, who served as Lord President of the Council and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and his first wife, Lady Charlotte Ponsonby (daughter of William Ponsonby, 2nd Earl of Bessborough). After his mother's death in 1822, his father married the Hon. Louisa, Baroness Ponsonby (daughter of Richard Molesworth, 3rd Viscount Molesworth and widow of William Ponsonby, 1st Baron Ponsonby), in 1823, however, she died soon after in February 1824.
His paternal grandparents were William Fitzwilliam, 3rd Earl Fitzwilliam and Lady Anne Watson-Wentworth (daughter of Thomas Watson-Wentworth, 1st Marquess of Rockingham, and sister to Prime Minister Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham). His father inherited the 2nd Marquess of Rockingham's estates in 1782.
He was a pupil at Eton College from 1796 to 1802.
Career
Before inheriting the Earldom on 8 February 1833 on the death of his father, he was known by the courtesy title of Viscount Milton. Under that name, he was the Whig Member of Parliament for Northamptonshire between 1831 and 1832. Fitzwilliam became a strong supporter of Parliamentary Reform and one of the principal advocates of repeal of the Corn Laws.
The family seat was Wentworth Woodhouse, reputedly the largest private house in England.
Personal life
On 8 July 1806, Viscount Milton married his cousin, the Hon. Mary Dundas (1787–1830). Mary was the daughter of Thomas Dundas, 1st Baron Dundas and Lady Charlotte Fitzwilliam (the 4th Earl's sister). They had thirteen children:
Lady Charlotte Wentworth-FitzWilliam (b. 1807)
Hon. Margaret Bruce Wentworth-FitzWilliam (1809–1809)
Lady Mary Wentworth-FitzWilliam (1810–1893), who married Leonard Thompson, Esq.
William Charles Wentworth-FitzWilliam, Viscount Milton (1812–1835), who married Lady Selina Charlotte Jenkinson, daughter of Charles Jenkinson, 3rd Earl of Liverpool, in 1833. They had two children; the younger survived:
Stillborn son (14 November 1834)
Hon. Mary Selina Charlotte Fitzwilliam (1836–1899), who married Henry Portman, 2nd Viscount Portman.
Lady Frances Laura Wentworth-FitzWilliam (1813–1887), who married Rev. William Bridgman-Simpson in 1837. They had five children:
Mary Bridgeman-Simpson (d. 1880)
Beatrice Dorothy Mary Bridgeman-Simpson (d. 1936)
Orlando John George Bridgeman-Simpson (1838–1907)
George Arthur Bridgeman-Simpson (1846–1913)
Admiral Sir Francis Charles Bridgeman-Simpson (1848–1929)
William Thomas Spencer Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, 6th Earl Fitzwilliam (1815–1902)
