Thomas Fairfax, 5th Lord Fairfax of Cameron

Thomas Fairfax, 5th Lord Fairfax of Cameron MP (16 April 1657 – 6 January 1710 N.S.) was an English nobleman and politician.


The Lord Fairfax of Cameron

Thomas Fairfax, 1684 portrait by John Riley
Born16 April 1657
Died6 January 1710
NationalityEnglish
Title5th Lord Fairfax of Cameron
PredecessorHenry Fairfax, 4th Lord Fairfax of Cameron
SuccessorThomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron
Spouse(s)Catherine Colepepper
Children7 (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
Francis Barwick

Life

Thomas Fairfax was born on 16 April 1657, the great-grandson of Thomas Fairfax, 1st Lord Fairfax of Cameron of the Scottish peerage, not to be confused with his cousin and Civil War leader Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron. His father was Henry Fairfax, 4th Lord Fairfax of Cameron and his mother was Frances Barwick.

Career

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

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]

See also

References

Parliament of England
Preceded by
William Palmes
Sir Watkinson Payler
Member of Parliament for Malton
1685–1689
With: Thomas Worsley
Succeeded by
William Palmes
Sir William Strickland
Preceded by
The Viscount Dungarvan
Sir John Kaye
Member of Parliament for Yorkshire
1689–1702
With: Sir John Kaye 1689–1698, 1701
The Viscount Downe 1698–1701
The Viscount of Irvine 1701–1702
Succeeded by
Marquess of Hartington
Sir John Kaye
Preceded by
Marquess of Hartington
Sir John Kaye
Member of Parliament for Yorkshire
1707
With: Marquess of Hartington
Succeeded by
Parliament of Great Britain
Military offices
Preceded by
Richard Leveson
Colonel of Lord Fairfax's Regiment of Dragoons
1694–1695
Succeeded by
William Lloyd
Peerage of Scotland
Preceded by
Henry Fairfax
Lord Fairfax of Cameron
1688–1710
Succeeded by
Thomas Fairfax
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