John Henry Fock, 2nd Baron de Robeck

(if you are a direct descendant, you are eligible for membership in the Daughters of the American Revolution)

John Fock, 2nd "Baron de Robeck" - a Swedish nobleman, later naturalized British citizen.

When the American colonies went to war against their British overlords in the late 18th century, many in Europe greeted the news with delight. Ever since the Golden Age of Queen Elizabeth, the British had been cresting upon a wave of unprecedented power and prosperity that threatened to give the London elite complete control over the known world. The American Declaration of Independence on 4th July 1776 spelled a new age for global politics. Within a decade, the colonial lust for liberty, equality and fraternity would spiral across the Atlantic and engulf France in the one of the bloodiest revolutions of the modern age.

The ill-equipped American colonials were quick to recognise the traditional French fondness for fighting the English. Invitations for military assistance were posted to the French capital. In July 1880, the Comte de Rochambeau dropped anchor at Rhode Island with a fleet of ships and 6000 soldiers. Amongst this vast army was "Lauzun's Legions", a light cavalry regiment of multi-lingual volunteers, considered to be the finest horse riders in Europe. Their leader was the chivalrous Duc de Lauzun, a favourite of Marie Antoinette and sometime lover to the "English Rose", Lady Sarah Lennox. Lauzun's Legion provided invaluable support to the Americans, taking part in the decisive defeat of the British Redcoats at Yorktown in the autumn of 1782.

Among the most gallant of Lauzun's officers was a nobleman named Johan Henrik Fock, the eldest of Jakob and Katarina Fock's eleven children, who was born in in Slöta, Skaraborg [Sweden] on 21st May 1753. (1) He was present at a skirmish with British Redcoats at Gloucester, Massachusetts, during which he was wounded in the leg and had his horse shot from underneath him in. He survived and, in 1783, he returned to France to collect an annual pension of 1500 livres for his distinguished services.

At the time of his fathers death in 1803, he was living in England. He duly called himself Baron de Robeck, a reference to the family estate at Råbäck which his brother Carl Georg inherited but later sold. It has been suggested that he changed the name from 'Fock' to 'de Robeck' because, in certain Swedish dialects, 'Fock' translates as 'penis'. And then there is, of couse, the way in which the name sounds kind of rude in English too. In any case, while Johann Henrik's father was never known as the 1st Baron de Robeck, he called himself the 2nd Baron. Descendents of his brothers Carl Georg nor Alexander Gustaf live in Sweden today.

FOOTNOTE

(1) Skaraborg was named after a fortress (in Swedish borg) outside the city of Skara. The county Governor at the time of the 2nd Baron's birth was Gabriel Gabrielsson Falkenberg (1748-1761) who lived at Mariestad. The largest city was Skövde. Johan's siblings who survived childhood were Per Adolf Fock (1756 - 1827) of Svartå Herrgård , Alexander Gustaf Fock (1757 - 1819), Christina Charlotta Fock (1758 - 1826), Karl Georg Fock (1765 - 1838) and Fredrika Fock (1769 - 1783). See Church of Latter Day Saints website for more.

The FitzPatrick Marriage

On 9th March 1789, the Baron married Anne Fitzpatrick, the wealthy young heiress of Galway landowner, Richard Fitzpatrick. Her grandfather Richard Fitzpatrick was captain of HMS Richmond in 1687, and was given a generous grant of land in Offaly for his part in a victory in 1696 against the French. A member of the Irish Parliament, he was raised to the Irish peerage as the 1st Baron Gowran. It was in deference to this title that the name "Gowran Grange" was ultimately chosen for the de Robeck's Kildare house in 1857.

Anne's cousin John, 2nd Earl of Upper Ossory, was one of the great horse racing enthusiasts in the reign of "Mad King" George III. In January 1765 the 2nd Earl began an affair with Lady Grafton, the unhappy wife of the decadent Duke of Grafton. They had a son in 1768 and eloped, much to Grafton's embarrassment. One assumes this was something of a talking point around the de Robeck's dinner table twenty years later.

The 2nd Baron's marriage would produce just one son, Henry. On July 13th 1789, four months after his wedding, an Act of Parliament granted the Baron British citizenship. The reasons for his new life in Britain are unclear but, as an aristocrat, his timing was impeccable. The day after his naturalization, the Bastille in Paris was stormed and the Ancien Regime of France began its rapid descent into bloody pandemonium. The Duc de Lauzun was one of untold thousands to perish on the guillotine.

http://www.turtlebunbury.com/history/history_family/hist_family_der...

Johan Henrik de Robeck, född 1753-05-21 Saleby.

Volontär vid Västgöta kavalleriregemente 1762-03-15 (1762-08-15). Korpral därst. 1764-09-17. Fältväbel vid Bohusläns dragonregemente 1768-12-19. Kornett vid Bohusläns dragonregemente 1769-04-06. Stabslöjtnant 1771-10-23. Löjtnant vid Västgöta kavalleriregemente 1774-02-23. Stabsryttmästare vid Västgöta kavalleriregemente 1776-05-22.

Gick i fransk tjänst. Kapten vid Schombergs dragoner i Frankrike 1779. Adjutant 1781 hos Due de Lauzun, som kommenderade avantgardet av franska armén i Amerika. RSO 1781-12-19.

Major vid Västgöta kavalleriregemente 1785-04-22. Avsked (KrAB.) 1792-04-18.

Vistades sedan i England, där han, för språkbrukets skull, antog namnet Robeck.

Död i England 1817-09-22.

"Han stred tappert under amerikanska frihetskriget och erhöll en fransk årlig pension av 1,500 livre."

Gift 1789-03-09 i London med Anne Fitz-Patrick, dotter av Rikard Fitz-Patrick, en yngre broder till earlen av Upper-Ossorij, och Susanna Young av en gammal ansedd irländsk familj.