Like his brother James FitzGerald, he was a journalist of considerable ability, and co-founded The Southland Times in 1862.

His maternal grandfather, Sir John Gibbons, 2nd Baronet, was a member of the British House of Commons.

[3] He arrived in Lyttelton on the Castle Eden on 14 February 1851,[4] but left soon after for the Victorian gold rush.

[6][7] FitzGerald gave up the proprietorship and joined the Otago gold rush, where he met again with George Sale, whom he knew from Victoria.

Fitzgerald accepted and became magistrate, sheriff, warden and commissioner of crown lands, based in Hokitika.

[19] Fitzgerald filed for bankruptcy in February 1878, which put an end to his public service positions.

Charles Button, one of the two representatives for the Hokitika electorate, resigned on 22 May when constituents passed a resolution that thanked him but expressed regret that he did not support Sir George Grey.

[27] Fitzgerald stood in the 1879 election in the two-member Hokitika electorate, but was beaten by Richard Seddon and Robert Reid.

[35] She was lost, presumed drowned, in the sinking of the steamer Taiaroa in 1886[3][36][37] and though her remains were never found, her cat and some of her possessions were recovered, including a lady's handbag containing two handkerchiefs marked "Jane Fitzgerald."