Sir Thomas Fairfax ( – 31 March 1505)
by John Marwood. Chapter 9.1: The Fairfax Family. Available publicly online through APL-385. was the first member of the Fairfax family to own

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 England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He was born Thomas Fairfax of Walton and 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 ...

. Fairfax's original home was near 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 ...

, which decided the outcome of that war. From 1489 to 1492, he successfully claimed the ownership of the Gilling Estate during two inquisitions.Marwood chapter 8
/ref> Before Fairfax, the de Etton family had owned this estate. However, in 1349, Margaret de Etton, the sister of Thomas de Etton—who owned the estate at that time and erected its tower keep—married Fairfax's ancestor, also named Thomas Fairfax. She entered an agreement that, should the de Etton family fail, the estate would be inherited by the Fairfax family. Thus, historian John Marwood wrote that "it could be argued that the rightful heirs had at last come home." When Fairfax received the estate, he became the Fairfax of Walton and Gilling. In 1505, the castle was essentially a large tower designed to be defensible against hit-and-run Scottish raiders, but not a long siege. According to historian John Marwood, this was the largest tower house in England. The estate consisted of a water mill, 30 houses, 300 acres of attached land, 300 acres of wood and 1,000 acres of moor. Fairfax became a Knight of the Bath in 1495. He married Elizabeth Shireburn of Stonyhurst in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

and had 10 children: his eldest son

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 ...

, who inherited the estate upon the elder Thomas' death; three other sons named Richard, Robert and John; and five daughters named Margaret, Jane, Elizabeth, Isabel, Anne and Dorothy. According to Marwood, "there appears little to report from Thomas' life."

References

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English knights People from Gilling East 15th-century English people 16th-century English people Wars of the Roses Year of birth uncertain 1505 deaths Knights of the Bath