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James FitzJames, Duke of Berwick, Duque de
Liria y Xerica, (1670-1734)
Born 21 August 1670 Moulins, Bourbonnais
Died 12 June 1734 Philippsburg (in battle)
Married (1) 26 March 1695 St.Germain-en-Laye
Lady Honora Bourke,
daughter of William Bourke, 7th Earl of Clanricarde and Lady Ellen
McCarthy
Born circa 1675
Died 16 January 1698 Pezenas
Buried Pontoise
Married (2) 18 April 1700 Paris
Anne Bulkeley,
daughter of Hon. Henry Bulkeley and Sophia Stewart
Died 12 June 1751
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Educated in France at the Colleges of Juilly, Plessis and La Fleche,
he distinguished himself at the siege of Buda in July 1686, when that fortress
was wrested from the Turks. On 19 March 1687, his father created him Baron
of Bosworth, Earl of Tinmouth and Duke of Berwick-upon-Tweed.
In 1687 he joined the Imperial Army in Hungary and became a Major General.
However, in 1687 and 1688 he was Lord Lieutenant of Hants; from 1687 till
1689 Governor of Portsmouth. He served his father's cause in Ireland at
the siege of Londonderry, the battle of the Boyne, and was attainted in
1695, whereby his honours became forfeited.
On 26 March 1695 at St.Germain, he married Honora, widow of Patrick
Sarsfield and daughter of William de Burgh, Earl of Clanricarde. However,
on 16 January 1698, she died of consumption. On 18 April 1700 in Paris,
he married Anne Bulkeley. By his first wife he
had fathered one son and by the second ten children.
On 17 December 1703 in France he became naturalised, serving with great
distinction in the French army. In February 1704 he became Captain General
and Grandee of Spain and, in 1706, a Marshall of France. In reward for
the victory of Almanza, which took place on 25
April 1707, over the English and Portuguese, King Felipe V created
him in that year Duke of Liria and Xerica in Spain. In 1707 he became a
Knight of the Golden Fleece and, in May 1710, Duke of FitzJames in France,
with a special remainder to his issue by his second wife.
Saint Simon described him as "cold and taciturn, always very much in
control of himself, with the talents of a great courtier", he was also
a competent general.In 1719 he was a Councillor of Regency in France and,
on 3 June 1724, installed as a Knight of the St. Esprit; in 1730 he became
Governor of Strasburg. On 12 June 1734, while opposing Prince Eugene of
Savoy, he was slain at the siege of Philippsburg.
Source: Leo van de Pas |
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