George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence by being drowned in a butt of Malmsey wine). He appears as a character in William Shakespeare's plays "Henry VI, Part 3" and "Richard III", in which his death is attributed to the machinations of Richard. George was born on 21 October 1449 in Dublin at a time when his father, the Duke of York, had begun to challenge Henry VI for the crown. His godfather was James FitzGerald, 6th Earl of Desmond. He was the third of the four sons of Richard and Cecily who survived to adulthood. His father died in 1460. In 1461 his elder brother, Edward,
Duke of Clarence Andrews and of Clarence and Avondale, were later created for British royal princes. The title also took the form of an earldom for Queen Victoria's son Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, and his son Prince Charles Edward, the Clarence earldom being a subsidiary title. The title is said to originate from the town of Clare, Suffolk, which was owned by the first Duke of Clarence, Lionel of Antwerp. His wife, Elizabeth, 4th Countess of Ulster, was a direct descendant of the previous owners, the de Clares, and the Manor of Clare was among the lands which she brought to her