---
type: Person
title: Colonel Fitzwilliam
description: Fitzwilliam Darcy's amiable cousin, a younger son of an earl and joint
  guardian of Georgiana Darcy.
resource: raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt
tags:
- rosings-park
- kent
- gentry
- pemberley
timestamp: '2026-07-16T17:56:51Z'
citadel_version: 0.3.0
---

Colonel Fitzwilliam is the younger son of [Fitzwilliam Darcy](../persons/fitzwilliam-darcy.md)'s
uncle, Lord ----, making him Darcy's cousin; he arrives at [Rosings Park](../misc/rosings-park.md)
with Darcy for an Easter visit to their aunt, [Lady Catherine de Bourgh](../persons/lady-catherine-de-bourgh.md).[^s1]
The narration describes him as "about thirty, not handsome, but in person and address most truly
the gentleman."[^s2] He tells [Elizabeth Bennet](../persons/elizabeth-bennet.md) that he is "joined
with" Darcy "in the guardianship of Miss Darcy."[^s3] As a younger son he has no independent
fortune: "in matters of greater weight, I may suffer from the want of money. Younger sons cannot
marry where they like."[^s4]

Walking with Elizabeth, he mentions, without naming names, that Darcy "congratulated himself on
having lately saved a friend from the inconveniences of a most imprudent marriage" earlier that
summer; Elizabeth immediately identifies the "friend" as [Charles Bingley](../persons/charles-bingley.md)
and the "imprudent marriage" as one to her sister [Jane Bennet](../persons/jane-bennet.md).[^s5]
[Charlotte Collins](../persons/charlotte-lucas.md) privately hopes Elizabeth might marry him instead
of Darcy, judging him "beyond comparison, the pleasantest man," though she recognizes Darcy has
far more patronage to offer.[^s6] In his letter to Elizabeth, Darcy names Colonel Fitzwilliam — a
fellow guardian of [Georgiana Darcy](../persons/georgiana-darcy.md) and an executor of their late
father's will — as a witness who can corroborate his account of
[George Wickham](../persons/george-wickham.md)'s history with the family.[^s7]

## See also

- [Fitzwilliam Darcy](../persons/fitzwilliam-darcy.md)
- [Elizabeth Bennet](../persons/elizabeth-bennet.md)
- [Lady Catherine de Bourgh](../persons/lady-catherine-de-bourgh.md)
- [Georgiana Darcy](../persons/georgiana-darcy.md)
- [George Wickham](../persons/george-wickham.md)

## Sources

[^s1]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 6829-6833 — Colonel Fitzwilliam's arrival with Darcy at Rosings (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s2]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 6844-6846 — Colonel Fitzwilliam's age and manner (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s3]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 7333-7335 — Colonel Fitzwilliam on his joint guardianship of Georgiana Darcy (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s4]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 7309-7310 — Colonel Fitzwilliam on a younger son's want of fortune (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s5]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 7373-7376 — Colonel Fitzwilliam's unwitting revelation of Darcy's role separating Bingley and Jane (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s6]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 7229-7233 — Charlotte Collins's hopes for a match between Elizabeth and Colonel Fitzwilliam (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s7]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 7940-7944 — Darcy names Colonel Fitzwilliam as a corroborating witness (ingested 2026-07-16)
