Born in 1735, The Duke of Grafton was the second son of Lord Augustus Fitzroy and his wife Elizabeth. His roots extended back to the Royal Family of Stuart where his great grandfather was the illegitimate son of Charles II. Grafton began his education in a private school in Hackney but like many other well breed children of aristocrats he then attended Westminster School, which was also in London. Most important young men of his age attended either Oxford or Cambridge and Grafton choose Peterhouse Cambridge where he earned an M.A. in 1753. He then embarked on the grand tour which took in France, Germany, Italy, Holland and Switzerland. In 1756 Grafton was then offered a position in Parliament as MP for Boroughbridge, a rotten boroughs which was owned by the Duke of Newcastle. He also won his family borough of Bury St. Edmunds, when he was unopposed and he chose to represent the later constituency. In 1757 he succeeded his father to his seat in the House of Lords and was also granted the position of Lord Lieutenant of Suffolk. In 1756 Grafton married the daughter of the Baron of Ravensworth, Anne Liddell, who he bore 3 children with. Grafton lost interest in his wife and domestic life fairly quickly and was soon associating with a series of mistresses and eventually left his wife to live with Anne Parsons. Grafton threw in his lot with the Duke of Newcastle early in his career and was associated with the “young friends” of the Duke. The young friends worked to stop Bute’s quest for an end to the Seven Years War and when he maid his first speech in the House of Lords it was to attack the peace proposals. Unfortunately for Grafton, his association with Newcastle and Pelham, made him into one of the victims of the “Massacre of the Pelhamite Innocents”, and he was refused an appointment as Lord Lieutenancy of Suffolk.

His disappointment was not felt for long because in 1765 he was appointed Privy Councilor and with Pitt’s assistance secured the position of Secretary of State for the Northern Department but due to Rockingham’s refusal to bring Pitt into the Ministry, Grafton resigned his post in 1766. This erosion of support for Rockingham brought about the downfall of his ministry in July of 1766. King George III appointed Pitt Prime Ministers and Pitt asked Grafton to serve as First Lord of the Treasury.

Although still a young man, Grafton was expected to administer most of the government.  In May 1767 Charles Townshend was able to challenge Grafton and push through the American Import Duties Bill which was intended to raise revenues from the colonies but led to the American Revolution. Grafton became First Ministers in 1767 with the departure of Pitt. The 1768 election saw little change in the makeup of Parliament even though many expected Grafton’s party to pick up support and seats. Grafton was generally blamed for this lack of success.

Grafton was faced with many challenges once in power, lest of which were the French acquisition of Corsica, the unrest in the colonies, election scandals, and crop failures resulting in soaring food prices.

He recognized that Irish affairs need ed more attention then tradition paid to them and arranged for the Lords Lieutenant for Ireland to reside there and for regular elections to take place. To complicate issues, Pitt regained his health in 1769 and returned to Parliament to challenge Grafton. Grafton survived until 1770 when attacks from all sides convinced him that it was time to step down which he did.

Although he later joined the ministries of both Lord North And Rockingham, he pursued religious issues more intently and died on March 11^th, 1811 in Suffolk at the age of 75.