Lady Morice was apprehended but escaped to France, while Sir William sued FitzRoy, obtaining £5,000 in damages and a divorce.

Lord Augustus FitzRoy was, in September 1739, sent by Haddock to reconnoitre Carthagena and Barcelona the latter being the port at which any troops destined for the enterprise would collect as they had on previous occasions with orders to bring back a report as to the possibility of executing an attack upon either the squadron or the shipping by means of fireships and bomb-vessels.

Lord Augustus, who returned in the middle of October, reported that the enterprise was impracticable in view of the strong defences of the harbours.

His naval duties sometimes kept him away from parliament, such as during the division on the Spanish convention in March 1739, but voted with the Government against the place bill in January 1740.

On the first instance "On Saturday the 8th [November], the Orford gave chase to a vessel plying to the eastward, and brought her into the fleet under French colours.

"[9] The second ...the admiral proceeded on his voyage, with fair weather ... till the afternoon of Wednesday, January the 7th, when they descried five large ships towards the shore.

The admiral immediately made signal for the Orford, the Prince Frederick, the Weymouth, the Dunkirk, and the York, to give chase, while he and the fleet continued their course for Jamaica.

They accordingly came up with the five ships, which were French men of war; and Lord Augustus FitzRoy, who commanded the Orford, ordered their commodore to hoist out his boat and come aboard.

[11][12][13][14] "The prize, rated as a 70, continued for some years as one of the best two-deckers in the British Navy"[11] Orford, under FitzRoy, sailed to Cartagena as part of the fleet under Admiral Vernon.

[15] FitzRoy wrote a letter to the Duke of Richmond, dated 25 April 1741, regarding the failed attack on Fort San Lazare.

They had two children:[1] Lord Augustus FitzRoy, like many officers serving in the West Indies at the time, suffered from the tropical fevers and diseases brought on by the poor living conditions and low health standards.