Thomas Fairfax, 5th Lord Fairfax of Cameron
The Lord Fairfax of Cameron | |
|---|---|
 Thomas Fairfax, 1684 portrait by John Riley | |
| Born | 16 April 1657 |
| Died | 6 January 1710 |
| Nationality | English |
| Title | 5th Lord Fairfax of Cameron |
| Predecessor | Henry Fairfax, 4th Lord Fairfax of Cameron |
| Successor | Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron |
| Spouse | Catherine Colepepper |
| Children | 7, including Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron and Robert Fairfax, 7th Lord Fairfax of Cameron |
| Parent(s) | Henry Fairfax, 4th Lord Fairfax of Cameron Frances Barwick |
Thomas Fairfax, 5th Lord Fairfax of Cameron (16 April 1657 – 6 January 1710) was an English military officer, politician and peer.
Early life
[edit]Fairfax was born on April 16, 1657, the great-grandson of Thomas Fairfax, 1st Lord Fairfax of Cameron of the Scottish peerage. His father was Henry Fairfax, 4th Lord Fairfax of Cameron and his mother was Frances Barwick.
Career
[edit]Fairfax graduated from Magdalen College, Oxford in 1675 and served in the Yorkshire Militia under the Earl of Danby. After the Glorious Revolution 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. 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.[1] He left military service in 1703 as a Major-General.
In 1690 and 1695, he was a Member of Parliament generally supporting the Tory interest, although the modern concept of political parties did not yet apply.[2] 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.[3]
In 1704, Fairfax obtained a three-year licence from Queen Anne to search for wrecks and treasure in the West Indies but the venture was a financial failure.[4] He died on 6 January 1710.
Family
[edit]In 1685, Fairfax married Catherine Colepepper, daughter of Thomas Colepeper, 2nd Baron Colepeper, and they had seven children: Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron, Henry Colpepper Fairfax, Katherine Fairfax, Margaret Fairfax, Frances Fairfax, Mary Fairfax, Robert Fairfax.[5]
References
[edit]- ^ Cannon, Richard (1838). Historical Record of the Fifth Regiment of Foot, Or Northumberland Fusiliers. p. 110.
- ^ David Hayton, Eveline Cruickshanks, Stuart Handley, The House of Commons, 1690-1715, p. 1013
- ^ historyofparliamentonline.org, Fairfax, Thomas, 5th Ld. Fairfax of Cameron (S) (1657-1710), of Denton and Cookbridge Hall, Yorks.
- ^ Jr Brown, PhD; Stuart E. Brown Jr. (2008). Virginia Baron: The Story of Thomas 6th Lord Fairfax. Genealogical Publishing Com. pp. 8–9. ISBN 978-0-8063-5218-3.
- ^ Harrison Genealogy Repository, Thomas FAIRFAX, 5TH LORD Of Cameron
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
- 1657 births
- 1710 deaths
- 3rd The King's Own Hussars officers
- Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford
- Fairfax family
- 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