Maurice FitzGerald Resigns as Commissioner of the Treasury (UK) Over the Issue of Catholic Relief

Maurice FitzGerald, MP for County Kerry, resigns as Commissioner of the Treasury over the British government’s refusal to grant Catholic relief. On this date, he publicly declares that the war effort alone — referring to Irish Catholic support during the Napoleonic Wars — merits concessions to Ireland’s Catholic population. His stance highlights the growing political pressure in early 19th-century Britain and Ireland to address Catholic civil rights, a movement that would culminate in Catholic Emancipation in 1829.