Sir Robert Fitzwygram, 2nd Baronet

Sir Robert Fitzwygram, Bt FRS
Member of Parliament for Wexford Borough
In office 1830–1831
Preceded by	Sir Edward Dering, Bt
Succeeded by	Sir Edward Dering, Bt
In office 1829–1830
Preceded by	Henry Evans
Succeeded by	Sir Edward Dering, Bt
Member of Parliament for Fowey
In office 1806–1818 Serving with Reginald Pole-Carew, William Rashleigh
Preceded by	Reginald Pole-Carew Robert Wigram
Succeeded by	George Lucy James Hamilton Stanhope
Personal details
Born	Robert Wigram (1773-09-25)25 September 1773
Died	17 December 1843(1843-12-17) (aged 70)
Spouse	Selina Hayes ​ ​ (after 1812)​
Relations	Joseph Wigram (brother) Loftus Wigram (brother) George Wigram (brother) Octavius Wigram (brother)
Parent(s)	Eleanor Wigram Sir Robert Wigram, 1st Baronet

Sir Robert Fitzwygram, 2nd Baronet, FRS (25 September 1773 – 17 December 1843), born Robert Wigram, was a Director of the Bank of England and a Tory politician.

Early life

Fitzwygram was the eldest son of Lady Eleanor and Sir Robert Wigram, 1st Baronet, merchant and shipbuilder of Walthamstow.[1] Among his numerous brothers were Joseph Cotton Wigram, Bishop of Rochester, Loftus Wigram, George Wigram, and Octavius Wigram, prominent in the City of London as a member of Lloyd's of London and as Governor of the Royal Exchange Assurance Company.[2]

Career

Fitzwygram owned a number of South Sea whaling ships in partnership with his father.[3] Wigram was interested in the foundation of the London Institution in 1805.[4]

Political career

He followed his father into Parliament in 1806 as Member of Parliament for Fowey. He was a Director of the Bank of England, and a Fellow of the Royal Society, and was knighted on 7 May 1818. In 1829 he was elected for the Wexford Borough but was unseated on petition. He was re-elected in 1830, but was again unseated in petition in 1831. He inherited the Wigram Baronetcy on the death of his father in 1830. In 1832 by royal licence, he changed his surname to FitzWygram.[5]

Personal life

Selina, Lady Fitzwygram

In 1812, Wigram married Selina Hayes, youngest daughter of Sir John Macnamara Hayes Bt and Anne (née White) Hayes.[6][a] Together, they were the parents of:[10]

• Robert Fitzwygram Wigram (1813–1873), who inherited the baronetcy but died unmarried.[10]
• Selina Frances Fitzwygram (1815–1890), who died unmarried.[10]
• Eleanor Maria Fitzwygram (1816–1817), who died young.[10]
• George Augustus Frederick Fitzwygram (1818–1841), who died unmarried.[10]
• Augusta Catherine Fitzwygram (1819–1893), who married Sir George Baker, 3rd Baronet.[10]
• Sophia Matilda Fitzwygram (1820–1824), who died young.[10]
• Frederick Wellington John Fitzwygram (1823–1904), who married Angela Frances Mary Vaughan, daughter of Thomas Nugent Vaughan and a younger half-sister of George Forbes, 7th Earl of Granard, in 1882.[10]
• William Harcourt Fitzwygram (1825–1832), who died young.[10]
• John Fitzroy Wigram (1827–1881), a Reverend who married Alice Ward, daughter of Sir Henry George Ward, in 1866.[10]
• Cordelia Anne Fitzwygram (1829–1830), who died young.[10]
• Loftus Adam Fitzwygram (1832–1904), who married Lady Frances Butler-Danvers, daughter of Hon. Charles Augustus Butler-Danvers and sister of John Butler, 6th Earl of Lanesborough, in 1866.[10]

Upon his death, his eldest son Robert inherited the baronetcy but died without issue. The baronetcy then passed to Fitzwygram's third son, Frederick.

Arms

Coat of arms of Sir Robert Fitzwygram, 2nd Baronet

Notes Granted 20 July 1807 by Sir Chichester Fortescue, Ulster King of Arms[11] Crest On a mount Vert a hand in armour in fess couped at the wrist Proper charged with an escallop and holding a fleur-de-lis erect Or. Escutcheon Argent on a pale Gules three escallops Or over all a chevron engrailed counterchanged and on a chief waves of the sea thereon a ship representing an English vessel of war of the sixteenth century with four masts sails furled Proper colours flying Gules. Motto Dulcis Amor Patriae

References

Notes

1. Selina's maternal grandparents were wealthy New York City merchant Henry White and his wife Eve (née Van Cortlandt) White (a daughter of Frederick Van Cortlandt).[7] She was a niece of Vice-Admiral Sir John Chambers White, General Frederick Van Cortlandt White, Henry White Jr. (wife of their cousin, Anna Van Cortlandt), Frances White (wife of Dr. Archibald Bruce), and Margaret White (wife of Peter Jay Munro).[8][9]

Sources

1. Gentleman's Magazine Obituary of Sir Robert Wigram 1830
2. William Courthope, Debrett's complete peerage of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1838), p. 605
3. Jane M. Clayton & Charles A. Clayton, Shipowners investing in the South Sea Whale Fishery from Britain: 1775 to 1815, Hassobury, 2016, p.63.
4. Philosophical Magazine 1805
5. Debrett's Peerage & Baronetage (online edition, accessed 28 February 2011), p. B1002: "The 1st baronet, Sir Robert Wigram, successively MP for Fowey and co. Wexford, obtained eminence as a merchant; he died 1830, having had twenty-three children. The 2nd baronet, MP for Fowey, in 1832 changed, by royal licence, his surname to FitzWygram".
6. Betham, William (1804). The Baronetage of England, Or the History of the English Baronets, and Such Baronets of Scotland, as are of English Families: With Genealogical Tables, and Engravings of Their Armorial Bearings. Miller. pp. 373–374. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
7. Dod, Charles Roger (1856). The Peerage, Baronetage, and Knightage of Great Britain and Ireland, for ...: Including All the Titled Classes. Whittaker and Company. p. 301. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
8. Sabine, Lorenzo (1864). Biographical sketches of loyalists of the American revolution, with an historical essay. Boston, Little, Brown and company. pp. 147–148. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
9. Commerce, New York Chamber of (1867). Annual Report of the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York, for the Year ... Wheeler and Williams. p. 66. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
10. Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003, volume 3, page 4165.
11. "Grants and Confirmations of Arms, Vol. C". National Library of Ireland. Retrieved 23 June 2022.

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Reginald Pole-Carew Robert Wigram (senior)	Member of Parliament for Fowey 1806–1818 With: Reginald Pole-Carew 1806-12 William Rashleigh 1812-18	Succeeded by George Lucy James Hamilton Stanhope
Preceded by Henry Evans	Member of Parliament for Wexford Borough 1829–1830	Succeeded by Sir Edward Dering, Bt
Preceded by Sir Edward Dering, Bt	Member of Parliament for Wexford Borough 1830–1831	Succeeded by Sir Edward Dering, Bt
Baronetage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Robert Wigram	Baronet (of Walthamstow) 1830–1843	Succeeded by Robert Fitzwygram