Edward Dalling Fitzgerald

1. Baptised in St Mary, Jamaica, 19/04/1778, son of Edward Fitzgerald of St George, Jamaica (mother's name given as [blank] "his wife").

2. Owner of Kildare estate in St George, Jamaica, from at least 1806, when he mortgaged it for £15,000. Had three "reputed sons" with Sarah Genery: Edward Fitzgerald (born 24/03/1807 and baptised in London 05/12/1810), Thomas Fitzgerald (born 07/01/1809 and baptised in London 05/12/1810) and William Fitzgerald (born 01/08/1811 and baptised in London 23/08/1811).

3. According to Genery v. Fitzgerald, Edward Dalling Fitzgerald wrote his will in September 1815 and died soon after. He left Sarah Genery an annuity of £600 per annum for life and made provision for the maintenance of his reputed children by Sarah Genery, Edward, Thomas and William Fitzgerald, during their minorities. All rest and residue to the eldest of his three reputed sons at age 21, charged with the sum of £10,000 sterling to each of his brothers if any of them reach the age of 21. Edward Dalling Fitzgerald's brother and heir at law claimed he was entitled to the rents and profits of the estate while the boys were aged under 21, and to the entire estate should none of the boys live to the age of 21.

4. In Fitzgerald v. Stewart, the plaintiff was Edward Dalling Fitzgerald's mother, Anna Fitzgerald nee McNeil, who was entitled to an annuity of £325 per annum payable out of estates in Jamaica and also to the sum of £17,600 Jamaican currency, with interest at 6 per cent, upon the property. George Reid was also entitled to £15,321 10s 7d sterling upon the same property, which was owned by Edward Dalling Fitzgerald. In 1814, the annuity and interest on both sums was "greatly in arrear" and George Reid filed a bill in the Court of Chancery in Jamaica to attempt to recover his debt. Edward Dalling Fitzgerald was appointed receiver and ordered to pay his mother the annuity and interest due her out of the proceeds of the estates, and to ship and consign all the sugar from the estates to George Reid for sale. In 1815, after the death of Edward Dalling Fitzgerald, Wentworth Bayly and George Harrison Cosens, the executors of Fitzgerald, became the receivers. The plantiff was paid her annuity according to this agreement until 1st January 1825 when the payments stopped.

5. In the census of 1851 his youngest son William gave his place of birth as Upper Seymour Street, London.

1. Familysearch.org, Jamaica Church of England Parish Register Transcripts, 1664-1880 [database online].

2. Ancestry.com, London, England, Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 [database online].

3. John A. Dunlap, Reports of Cases decided in the High Court of Chancery, during the times of Lord Chancellor Eldon and Lord Chancellor Lyndhurst, Lords High Chancellors of England (New York, 1844), vol. IV, 1821, 1822, 1827, 1828, pp. 468-471.

4. Simons, Nicholas, Reports of Cases decided in the High Court of Chancery, by the Right Hon. Sir Anthony Hart, and the Right Hon. Sir Launcelot Shadwell, Vice-Chancellors of England (London, 1831) vol. II, 1827, 1828 and 1829 pp. 333-343.

5. 1851 census online: William Fitzgerald at 5 Albert Street, Islington.

We are grateful to Gill Joye for her assistance with compiling this entry.