Edward FitzGerald, 7th Duke of Leinster
Edward FitzGerald, 7th Duke of Leinster, etc. (6 May 1892 – 8 March 1976), known as Lord Edward FitzGerald before 1922, was Ireland's Premier Peer of the Realm. Life. Leinster was the youngest of the three sons born to Gerald, 5th Duke of Leinster, and his wife, the former Lady Hermione Duncombe. He inherited the Dukedom in February 1922, upon the death of his eldest brother, Maurice FitzGerald, 6th Duke of Leinster, who never married and was confined to a mental institution at the time of his death. An addicted gambler, Leinster had already  signed away his possible reversionary rights to the family's ancestral seat, Carton House, near Maynooth in County Kildare, not expecting that he would inherit the property and the title. He chose to live in England and his estates remained in the possession of the beneficiary, Sir Harry Mallaby-Deeley, 1st Baronet, during the Duke's lifetime. In 1936, Leinster testified at a bankruptcy hearing that he had travelled to the United States in 1928 in order to find an heiress to marry and that during his trip he "entertained lavishly on borrowed money in efforts to find an American  wife who would pay off his debts". Two heiresses appeared to be interested but both eventually declined to become Duchess of Leinster. Unable to repay his debts, the duke spent the final years of his life living in a small bedsit in Pimlico. He died by suicide in 1976 by taking an overdose of pentobarbital. Personal life. The Duke of Leinster married four times, his wives being: The duke had an illegitimate son by Yvonne Denison Percy Probyn (later known as Yvonne FitzGerald), daughter of Col. J. Percy Probyn: