Sir William FitzWilliam was an English Lord Justice of Ireland and afterwards Lord Deputy of Ireland. In 1587, as Governor of Fotheringhay Castle, he supervised the execution of the death sentence on Mary, Queen of Scots.
Background
William was the eldest son of Sir William Fitzwiiiiam of Milton, Northamptonshire, where he was born in 1526, and grandson of another Sir William Fitzwiiiiam, alderman and sheriff of London, who was also treasurer and chamberlain to Cardinal Wolsey, and who purchased Milton in 1506.
Career
In 1559 he became vice-treasurer of Ireland and a member of the Irish House of Commons; and between this date and 1571 he was (during the absences of Thomas Radclyffe, earl of Sussex, and of his successor, Sir Henry Sidney) five times lord justice of Ireland.
Moreover, the deputy quarrelled with the lord president of Connaught, Sir Edward Fitton (1527 - 1579), but he compelled the earl of Desmond to submit in 1574.
He disliked the expedition of Walter Devereux, earl of Essex; he had a further quarrel with Fitton, and after a serious illness he was allowed to resign his office.
In 1588 Fitzwiiiiam was again in Ireland as lord deputy, and although old and ill he displayed great activity in leading expeditions, and found time to quarrel with Sir Richard Bingham (1528 - 1599), the new president of Connaught.
In 1594 he finaily left Ireland, and five years later he died at Milton.
Achievements
Membership
Parliament for Peterborough
Connections
In 1543, FitzWilliam married Anne (Agnes) Sidney (d. 1602), daughter of Sir William Sidney of Penshurst Place.