Sir Thomas Fairfax ( – 1520) was an owner of

Gilling Castle Gilling Castle is a Grade I listed country house near Gilling East, North Yorkshire, England (). History The castle was originally the home of the Etton family, who appeared there at the end of the 12th century. It was Thomas de Etton who bu ...

, near

Gilling East Gilling East is a village and civil parish in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England, on the main B1363 road between York and Helmsley, south of Oswaldkirk and south of Helmsley. It is named "East" to distinguish it from Gilling We ...

, North Riding of Yorkshire, England.

Sir Thomas Fairfax (father)

Fairfax's father, also named

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 ...

, was presumably a supporter of the House of York in the

Wars of the Roses The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487), known at the time and for more than a century after as the Civil Wars, were a series of civil wars fought over control of the English throne in the mid-to-late fifteenth century. These wars were fought bet ...

. His original home was near the site of the

Battle of Towton The Battle of Towton took place on 29 March 1461 during the Wars of the Roses, near Towton in North Yorkshire, and "has the dubious distinction of being probably the largest and bloodiest battle on English soil". Fought for ten hours between ...

. Based on the 1349 marriage between Margaret de Etton and their ancestor, a third Thomas Fairfax of Walton, the elder Thomas Fairfax successfully claimed the ownership of the Gilling Estate during two inquisitions, the first of which was in 1489. The elder Thomas Fairfax married Elizabeth, daughter of Robert Sherburne of Lancashire. Their son, the younger Thomas Fairfax, was the eldest of nine children; his brothers' names were Richard, Robert and John, and his sisters were Jane, Elizabeth, Isabel, Anne and Dorothy.

Career

In 1513, the younger Fairfax served with Henry VIII on his expedition to

Artois Artois ( ; ; nl, Artesië; English adjective: ''Artesian'') is a region of northern France. Its territory covers an area of about 4,000 km2 and it has a population of about one million. Its principal cities are Arras (Dutch: ''Atrecht'') ...

. He was knighted when the city of Tournai (now in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

) surrendered to the king. Upon his father's death in 1505, the younger Thomas Fairfax inherited the Gilling estate.

Marriage and family

The younger Fairfax's wife was Agnes (or Anne) Gascoigne, daughter of Lady Margaret Percy, the daughter of

Henry Percy, 3rd Earl of Northumberland Henry Percy, 3rd Earl of Northumberland, (25 July 1421 – 29 March 1461) was an English magnate. The Earldom of Northumberland was then one of the greatest landholdings in northern England; Percy also became Lord Poynings on his marr ...

and through him, a descendant of Edward III. Agnes's father was Sir William Gascoigne "the Younger" of

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 ...

, a descendant of another Sir William Gascoigne. Fairfax had six sons and six daughters. * Upon his death, he left his estate to his son Nicholas. * William was Nicholas's twin. He settled at

Bury St. Edmunds Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as Bury, is a historic market, cathedral town and civil parish in Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton A ...

and is buried in Walsingham. He married and had John Fairfax, Master of the Great Hospital in Norwich, who married Mary Birch, daughter of George Birch, Sheriff of Norwich in 1604, Mayor of Norwich in 1621, and had issue, Benjamin Fairfax, of Rumburgh, ejected 1662 (1592 - 1675), married to Sarah Galliard, daughter of Roger Galliard, of Ashwell Thorpe, Co. Norfolk, and had issue, Benjamin Fairfax, of Halesworth, Co. Suffolk (? - 1708), married to Bridget Stringer, daughter of Walter Stringer, of Chester, and had issue, Sarah Fairfax (1654 - 1688), married in 1675 to John Meadows, Vicar of Ousden (ejected 1662) (Chattisham, near Ipswich, Suffolk, 7 April 1622 - Bury St. Edmunds, buried in Stowmarket, 1 March 1697), son of Daniel Meadows (Rushmere, 1577 - 7 September 1659, buried Chatisham) and wife Elizabeth Smith (?- 1678) and paternal grandson of William Meadows and wife Agnes ... (? - 1678), and had issue * His third son, Thomas, became a priest in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

. * His other sons were named Miles of

Gilling Gillingr (Old Norse: ; also Gilling) is a jötunn in Norse mythology, and the father of Suttungr. Gillingr and, later, his wife are murdered by the dwarfs Fjalar and Galar. In revenge, his son Suttungr tortures the dwarfs into giving him the mea ...

, Guy and Robert. A celebrated member of the Fairfax family is

Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron (17 January 161212 November 1671), also known as Sir Thomas Fairfax, was an English politician, general and Parliamentary commander-in-chief during the English Civil War. An adept and talented command ...

(17 January 1612 – 12 November 1671) – the distant cousin of Sir Thomas Fairfax (Gilling) – who was a general and Parliamentary commander-in-chief during the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

. Records reveal that in his will, dated 26 November 1520, Sir Thomas Fairfax names his wife Anne (Agnes) – "Dame Anne Fairfax, my wif" – as an executrix and she is granted administration 11 April 1521.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fairfax, Thomas Knights Bachelor People from Ryedale (district) English monarchy

16th-century English people 15th-century English people 1520 deaths Year of birth uncertain