Fitz Facts Day 23: William Conningham was born in 1815 and grew up with his foster brother James Fitzjames at their home in Rose Hill. William was a sickly child and often had to see doctors or go on vacations for treatment while growing up. He tried and failed to join the military specifically the First Light Dragoons. Instead he would later go on to inherit great wealth from his family, especially after the tragic passing of Robert and then shortly thereafter Louisa. At the age of 24 he was described as “a young, very tall, very lean, dyspeptical, gentlehearted, rich, and melancholic man”.
At 26, he married Elizabeth Meyrick (more on her later), and moved to London. He began an obsession with collecting art (which honestly being young, alone, and with a bunch of money, why not gain a hobby?) He once spent a thousand pounds on a small crumpled sketch by Raphael. He had amassed the largest private collection of Italian artwork at one point before selling it all without giving a reason (though it’s speculated it was 1849, a year overdue for James’ return). William spent his days as an eccentric politician and staunch atheist who never forgot his foster brother. The death of his oldest daughter suddenly at the age of 17 broke him, with the loss of his parents, his foster brother, and his daughter, William retreated from politics and resumed his lifelong sickness before dying in 1881. Fitzjames kept a portrait of William above his bed in Erebus.