Sir John Fenwick, 1st Baronet (c. 1570 – c. 1658) of Wallington and Fenwick, Northumberland, was an

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landowner and politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

at various times between 1624 and 1648. He supported the

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cause in the

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Biography

Fenwick was the son of Sir William Fenwick, who had been

Sheriff of Northumberland This is a list of the High Sheriffs of the English county of Northumberland. The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries ...

in 1578 and 1589, and his first wife Grace Forster daughter of Sir John Forster of Edderstone and Hexham. He was knighted at Royston on 18 January 1605 and succeeded his father in 1618 at the age of 35. Fenwick himself also served as Sheriff in 1619–20 and 1644–45. In 1624 and again in 1625, 1626 and 1628 Fenwick was elected

member of parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

. He was created 1st Baronet Fenwick of Fenwick, on 9 June 1628. He was a successful

racehorse Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic pr ...

breeder A breeder is a person who selectively breeds carefully selected mates, normally of the same breed to sexually reproduce offspring with specific, consistently replicable qualities and characteristics. This might be as a farmer, agriculturalist, or ...

and became a favourite of

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for whom he acted as Master of the Royal Stud at

Tutbury Tutbury is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Staffordshire, England. It is north of Burton upon Trent and south of the Peak District. The village has a population of about 3,076 residents. It adjoins Hatton, Derbyshire, H ...

and, from 1639, Surveyor of the Royal Race (or Stud). In April 1640, Fenwick was again elected MP for Northumberland to the

Short Parliament The Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that was summoned by King Charles I of England on the 20th of February 1640 and sat from 13th of April to the 5th of May 1640. It was so called because of its short life of only three weeks. Aft ...

and was then elected MP for

Cockermouth Cockermouth is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria, England, so named because it is at the confluence of the River Cocker as it flows into the River Derwent. The mid-2010 census estimates state that Cocke ...

to the

Long Parliament The Long Parliament was an English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened for only three weeks during the spring of 1640 after an 11-year parliamentary absence. In Septem ...

in 1641. He was then re-elected for Northumberland in 1642 after Henry Percy was excluded. Fenwick himself was temporarily disabled from sitting in January 1644 but was re-admitted to Parliament in June 1646. Fenwick owned substantial estates in Northumberland and Durham but financial difficulties caused him to sell the greater part of his holdings in 1650 to Sir William Blackett for £20,000. He retained the family seat at

Wallington Hall Wallington is a country house and gardens located about west of Morpeth, Northumberland, England, near the village of Cambo. It has been owned by the National Trust since 1942, after it was donated complete with the estate and farms by Sir Char ...

Family

He died in 1658 aged 79. He had married firstly Catherine Slingsby, daughter of Sir Henry Slingsby of Scriven,

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and Frances Vavasour, and had a son John and two daughters. He married secondly Grace Loraine, daughter of Thomas Loraine, and had further issue, including William. His third wife was named Bond. His son and heir

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

was killed fighting on the

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side at the

Battle of Marston Moor The Battle of Marston Moor was fought on 2 July 1644, during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms of 1639 – 1653. The combined forces of the English Parliamentarians under Lord Fairfax and the Earl of Manchester and the Scottish Covenanters und ...

in 1644 and he was therefore succeeded by his second son

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fenwick, John, 1st Baronet 1570s births 1650s deaths People from Northumberland Baronets in the Baronetage of England British racehorse owners and breeders Cavaliers British and English royal favourites High Sheriffs of Northumberland English landowners English MPs 1624–1625 English MPs 1625 English MPs 1626 English MPs 1628–1629 English MPs 1640 (April) English MPs 1640–1648