Thomas Fairfax, 1st Lord Fairfax of Cameron
MP (1560 – 2 May 1640) was an English nobleman, soldier, diplomat, and politician, his title being in the
Peerage of Scotland
The Peerage of Scotland ( gd, Moraireachd na h-Alba, sco, Peerage o Scotland) is one of the five divisions of peerages in the United Kingdom and for those peers created by the King of Scots before 1707. Following that year's Treaty of Union, ...
.
Life
Fairfax was the eldest son of Sir Thomas Fairfax of Denton, Yorkshire and Dorothy Gale, and was born at
Bilbrough
Bilbrough () is a village and civil parish in the Selby District of North Yorkshire, England, south-west of York, and just outside the York city boundary. According to the 2001 Census it had a population of 319 increasing to 348 at the 2011 ...
, near
York
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
. As a young man he saw military service in the
Low Countries
The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...
, where he commanded a company of foot under
Sir Francis Vere
Sir Francis Vere (1560/6128 August 1609) was a prominent English soldier serving under Queen Elizabeth I fighting mainly in the Low Countries during the Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604) and the Eighty Years' War.
He was a sergeant major-general ...
. Before and after the death of
Mary, Queen of Scots
Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567.
The only surviving legitimate child of James V of Scot ...
, he was employed by Elizabeth on several diplomatic communications with
James VI of Scotland
James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until hi ...
. James offered him a title, which he declined. In 1586 he offered his services to James to suppress a rebellion under Lord Maxwell; and on the death of Elizabeth he was, with six of his nearest kindred, one of the first Englishmen who went to Scotland to swear fealty to the new king. He had served in France under
Robert Devereux,
Earl of Essex
Earl of Essex is a title in the Peerage of England which was first created in the 12th century by King Stephen of England. The title has been recreated eight times from its original inception, beginning with a new first Earl upon each new cre ...
and was knighted by him in
Rouen
Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...
in 1591. He also sat as a member of parliament for
Lincoln
Lincoln most commonly refers to:
* Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States
* Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England
* Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S.
* Lincol ...
in 1586, for
Aldborough in 1588 and for
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
in 1601 and 1625.
After the accession of James I to the throne, he settled down on his estate at
Denton Hall near
Ilkley
Ilkley is a spa town and civil parish in the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, in Northern England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Ilkley civil parish includes the adjacent village of Ben Rhydding and is a ward within the ...
. He bred horses, and wrote about horsemanship. On the accession of Charles I, Fairfax was again
knight of the shire
Knight of the shire ( la, milites comitatus) was the formal title for a member of parliament (MP) representing a county constituency in the British House of Commons, from its origins in the medieval Parliament of England until the Redistributio ...
(MP) for Yorkshire in the parliament of 1625. He drew up a statement of his services, and on 4 May 1627 was created
Lord Fairfax of Cameron
Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron
Lord Fairfax of Cameron is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. Despite holding a Scottish peerage, the Lords Fairfax of Cameron are members of an ancient Yorkshire family, of which the Fairfax baron ...
in the Peerage of Scotland; the grant was facilitated by a payment of £1,500.
Fairfax died 1 May 1640. He was buried, by the side of his wife, who had died in 1620, in the south transept of
All Saints' Church, Otley
All Saints' Church in Otley, West Yorkshire, England is an active Anglican parish church in the archdeaconry of Leeds and the Diocese of Leeds.
History
The church is of Norman origin with alterations from the 14th to the 18th centuries. There ...
, where a large altar-tomb, surmounted with their effigies, still commemorates their virtues. The legend was written by
Edward Fairfax the poet, his half-brother.
Works
Fairfax is said in ''Analecta Fairfaxiana'' to have written a number of works: a discourse, containing 150 pages, entitled 'Dangers Diverted, or the Highway to Heidelbergh'; 'Conjectures about Horsemanship'; 'The Malitia of Yorkshire'; a tract on the Yorkshire cavalry and against horse racing; 'The Malitia of Durham'; 'Orders for the House,' &c. The last of his works, ''The Order for the Government of the House of Denton'', lays down in great detail the duties of every servant in his household.
Family
In 1582 he married Ellen, daughter of Robert Aske of
Aughton, Yorkshire. As a member of the
Council of the North
The Council of the North was an administrative body first set up in 1484 by King Richard III of England, to improve access to conciliar justice in Northern England. This built upon steps by King Edward IV of England in delegating authority in the ...
he was brought into connection with
Edmund Sheffield,
Earl of Mulgrave
The title Earl of Mulgrave has been created twice. The first time as a title in the Peerage of England and the second time as a Peerage of the United Kingdom.
The first creation was in the Peerage of England in 1626 for Edmund Sheffield, 3r ...
, its president. His eldest son
Ferdinando Fairfax, 2nd Lord Fairfax of Cameron
Ferdinando Fairfax, 2nd Lord Fairfax of Cameron MP (29 March 1584 – 14 March 1648) was an English nobleman and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1614 and 1648. He was a commander in the Parliamentary army in ...
, married Sheffield's daughter, Mary, in 1607. In 1620 Fairfax's younger sons, William and John, were with the English army in the Low Countries. A letter from William states that his 'white-haired father' had come over to join them, bought horses and arms, and been received with the respect due to his former services. In 1631 he heard from their general that both his sons had been killed at the siege of
Frankenthal
Frankenthal (Pfalz) ( pfl, Frongedahl) is a town in southwestern Germany, in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
History
Frankenthal was first mentioned in 772. In 1119 an Augustinian monastery was built here, the ruins of which — known, af ...
. Two other sons are stated by Thoresby to have died a violent death in the same year: Peregrine at
La Rochelle
La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle''; oc, La Rochèla ) is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department. With ...
and Thomas in Turkey.
Henry Fairfax (fourth son) and
Charles Fairfax were other sons.
Fairfax had two daughters: Dorothy, married to
Sir William Constable, and Anne, wife of Sir George Wentworth of Woolley.
See also
*
Nun Appleton Priory
Nun Appleton Priory was a priory near Appleton Roebuck, North Yorkshire, England. It was founded as a nunnery c. 1150, by Eustace de Merch and his wife. It was dissolved by 1539, when the nuns were receiving pensions.
Nun Appleton Hall
Subsequen ...
References
*
History of Parliament FAIRFAX, Thomas I (1560–1640) of Denton and Nun Appleton, Yorks* Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990,
*
Tudor Place
;Attribution
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fairfax, Thomas, 01 Lord Fairfax of Cameron
1560 births
1640 deaths
16th-century English soldiers
Thomas
Thomas may refer to:
People
* List of people with given name Thomas
* Thomas (name)
* Thomas (surname)
* Saint Thomas (disambiguation)
* Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church
* Thomas the A ...
Politicians from York
English MPs 1586–1587
English MPs 1589
English MPs 1601
English MPs 1625
Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge
Lords of Parliament (pre-1707)
Peers of Scotland created by Charles I
Lords Fairfax of Cameron