Major-General Thomas Fairfax, 5th Lord Fairfax of Cameron (16 April 1657 – 6 January 1710) was an English Army officer and politician.

Early life

Fairfax was born on April 16, 1657, the great-grandson of

Thomas Fairfax, 1st Lord Fairfax of Cameron Thomas Fairfax, 1st Lord Fairfax of Cameron (c. 1560 – 1 May 1640) was an English army officer, diplomat and politician. Life Thomas Fairfax was the eldest son of Sir Thomas Fairfax of Denton, Yorkshire and Dorothy Gale, and was born at ...

of the Scottish peerage. His father was Henry Fairfax, 4th Lord Fairfax of Cameron and his mother was Frances Barwick.

Career

Fairfax graduated from

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and ...

in 1675 and served in the Yorkshire Militia under the Earl of Danby. After the

Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution, also known as the Revolution of 1688, was the deposition of James II and VII, James II and VII in November 1688. He was replaced by his daughter Mary II, Mary II and her Dutch husband, William III of Orange ...

in 1688, he was appointed Lt-Colonel of Lord Castleton's Regiment of Foot, a new regiment raised to fight in the

Nine Years' War The Nine Years' War was a European great power conflict from 1688 to 1697 between Kingdom of France, France and the Grand Alliance (League of Augsburg), Grand Alliance. Although largely concentrated in Europe, fighting spread to colonial poss ...

. In 1694, William III made him Colonel of a Regiment of Foot and he was promoted to Brigadier in 1696, shortly before the Treaty of Ryswick ended the war in 1697. He left military service in 1703 as a Major-General. In 1690 and 1695, he was a Member of Parliament generally supporting the

Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...

interest, although the modern concept of political parties did not yet apply. He was able to sit in the English Parliament because his title was part of the Scottish peerage; after the 1707 Act of Union, Scottish peers were disqualified and he was required to give up his seat. In 1704, Fairfax obtained a three-year licence from Queen Anne to search for wrecks and treasure in the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

but the venture was a financial failure. He died on 6 January 1710.

Family

In 1685, Fairfax married Catherine Colepepper, daughter of

Thomas Colepeper, 2nd Baron Colepeper Thomas Colepeper, 2nd Baron Colepeper (21 March 1635– 27 January 1689) was an English colonial administrator who served as the governor of the Isle of Wight from 1661 to 1667 and as the governor of Virginia from 1677 to 1683. Life Born ...

, and they had seven children:

Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron (22 October 16939 December 1781) was a British-born planter. The only member of the British peerage to permanently reside in British America, Fairfax owned the Northern Neck Proprietary in the Colony ...

, Henry Colpepper Fairfax, Katherine Fairfax, Margaret Fairfax, Frances Fairfax, Mary Fairfax, Robert Fairfax.Harrison Genealogy Repository, ''Thomas FAIRFAX, 5TH LORD Of Cameron''
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fairfax, Thomas, 05 Lord Fairfax of Cameron 1657 births 1710 deaths 3rd The King's Own Hussars officers Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Thomas Fairfax, 5th Lord Fairfax of Cameron Tory MPs (pre-1834) English MPs 1685–1687 English MPs 1689–1690 English MPs 1690–1695 English MPs 1695–1698 English MPs 1698–1700 English MPs 1701 English MPs 1701–1702 Culpeper family Lords of Parliament (pre-1707) Lords Fairfax of Cameron