) in
Vanity Fair, June 1906. Fitzmaurice was
called to the Bar at
Lincoln's Inn in 1871, but never practised. In 1868 Fitzmaurice was elected unopposed to Parliament for the family constituency of
Calne, a seat he would hold until 1885, and served as
Parliamentary Private Secretary to
Robert Lowe,
Chancellor of the Exchequer and later
Home Secretary, from 1872 to 1874, when the
Liberals fell from office. He was appointed Commissioner at
Constantinople in 1880, overseeing the reorganisation of the European provinces of the
Ottoman Empire under the
Berlin Treaty of 1878. However, his ambitious plans and ideas for the area were never implemented. The
Liberal party had returned to power in 1880, and in 1883
William Gladstone appointed Fitzmaurice
Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, succeeding
Sir Charles Dilke, which he remained until the fall of the Liberal Government in 1885. The
Calne constituency he had represented since 1868 was abolished in 1885, and he was instead chosen as the Liberal party candidate for the
Glasgow constituency of
Blackfriars and Hutchesontown. However, illness forced Fitzmaurice into semi-retirement before the elections. He returned to public life in 1887 but was unsuccessful in his attempts to return to Parliament when he stood for
Deptford in the
1892 general election and for
Cricklade in the
1895 general election. However, in 1898 he was successfully returned for
Cricklade in a by-election, a constituency he would represent until 1906. When the
Liberals came to power in late 1905 under
Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, Fitzmaurice was appointed to his old post of Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, but to the surprise of many he was overlooked for a Cabinet post. He was in fact offered the position of
Foreign Secretary (which for five years prior had been held by his brother Lord Lansdowne) should
Sir Edward Grey refuse it (which he did not). Fitzmaurice chose not to stand in the
1906 General Election, and was instead raised to the peerage as
Baron Fitzmaurice, of Leigh in the County of Wiltshire. He remained at the
Foreign Office after
H. H. Asquith became
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in April 1908 and was admitted to the
Privy Council the same month. In October 1908 he was appointed
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, with a seat in the Cabinet. However, a recurrence of his earlier illness forced him to resign the following year, marking the end of his political career. Following Asquith's ascension to the premiership, Fitzmaurice was critical of what he saw as "the Liberals' aimless drift in domestic politics," although following his resignation he was (according to one study) "anxious to dispel rumours that his resignation was caused by a rift with Asquith or misgivings over Lloyd George's controversial 'People's Budget.'"
Business and publications Apart from his participation in national politics, Lord Fitzmaurice serve as
Chairman of Wiltshire County Council from 1896 to 1906. He was also a biographer, and published works on his great-grandfather, the
Prime Minister the
2nd Earl of Shelburne and of his earlier ancestor, the economist, scientist and philosopher
Sir William Petty (in
Life of Sir William Petty 1623 - 1687, published 1895), of the
2nd Earl Granville and of
Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick, amongst others. He served as a
trustee of the
National Portrait Gallery. Published works of Lord Fitzmaurice include: • 1875:
Life of William, earl of Shelburne, afterwards first marquess of Lansdowne • 1895:
The Life of Sir William Petty, 1623-1687 • 1901:
Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick : An Historical Study, 1735-1806. London : Longmans, Green & Co. • 1905:
The life of Granville George Leveson Gower, second earl Granville, K.G., 1815-1891in 2 vols. • 1912:
Life of William, earl of Shelburne, afterwards first marquess of Lansdowne (2nd, revised, edition) in 2 vols. • 1914:
The country dressmaker : a play in three acts. • 1914:
Dandy dolls. • 1914:
Moonlighter. Awards and honours Fitzmaurice was awarded
Fellowship of the British Academy (FBA) in 1914.
Dauntsey's School have named a
school house in his honour, as he served as a
school governor there from 1893. == Personal life ==