Powys-Lybbe Forbears - Person Sheet
Powys-Lybbe Forbears - Person Sheet
NameSir Thomas Fairfax Lord Fairfax 
[56, Yorks 1584-5, pub Foster 1875, Fairfax, p. 97], [56, Yorks of 1563-4, pub Harleian 1881, Constable, p. 66], [60, Fairfax article, Vol V, p. 229]
[56, Yorks 1584-5, pub Foster 1875, Fairfax, p. 97], [56, Yorks of 1563-4, pub Harleian 1881, Constable, p. 66], [60, Fairfax article, Vol V, p. 229]Birth1560, Bilborough, Yorks
Death2 May 1640
Burial5 May 1640, Otley church, Yorks
General1st s. 1st baron: 1627. MP. Member of Council of the North.
FatherThomas Fairfax (-1600)
MotherDorothy Gale (-1596)
Notes for Sir Thomas Fairfax Lord Fairfax
Of Denton and Nun Appleton, Yorks.
See also Notes and Queries, 7th Series, vol ix, p. 321 for "other interesting matters" - CP.
See also Notes and Queries, 7th Series, vol ix, p. 321 for "other interesting matters" - CP.
DNB Main notes for Sir Thomas Fairfax Lord Fairfax
Fairfax, Thomas, FIRST BARON FAIRFAX OF CAMERON IN THE SCOTTISH PEERAGE (1560–1640),
Fairfax, Thomas, FIRST BARON FAIRFAX OF CAMERON IN THE SCOTTISH PEERAGE (1560–1640), eldest son of Sir Thomas Fairfax of Denton and Nun Appleton, both in Yorkshire, was born at Bilbrough, near York, in 1560. As a young man he saw much service in the Low Countries, where he commanded a company of foot under Sir Francis Vere. In 1582 he married Ellen, daughter of Robert Aske of Aughton, Yorkshire. Before and after the death of Mary Queen of Scots he was employed by Elizabeth on several diplomatic communications with James VI of Scotland. James offered him a title, which he had the prudence to decline. In 1588 he tendered his services to James to suppress a rebellion under Lord Maxwell; and on the death of Elizabeth he was, with six near kindred, one of the first Englishmen who went to Scotland to swear fealty to the king. He had served in France under the Earl of Essex, and was knighted by him before Rouen in 1591. He was M.P. for Lincoln 1586, for Aldborough 1588, and for Boroughbridge 1601.
After the accession of James I to the throne, he settled down upon his estate at Denton. He bred horses, and wrote a treatise entitled ‘Conjectures about Horsemanship,’ yet extant in manuscript. He ruled his household with military precision. ‘The Order for the Government of the House at Denton,’ laying down in great detail the duties of every servant, is also extant, and gives an admirable picture of a gentleman's household at that period.
As a member of the council of the north he was brought into connection with Lord Sheffield, its president. His eldest son, Sir Ferdinando Fairfax [q.v.] , married Sheffield's daughter, Mary, in 1607. In 1620 Fairfax's younger sons, William and John, were with the English army in the Low Countries. A letter from William states that his ‘white-haired father’ had come over to join them, bought horses and arms, and been received with the respect due to his former services. He soon returned, however, and in 1621 heard from their general that both his sons had been killed at the siege of Frankenthal. Two other sons are stated by Thoresby to have died a violent death in the same year: Peregrine at La Rochelle and Thomas in Turkey. Upon the accession of Charles I, Fairfax was elected M.P. for Yorkshire in 1625, and was unseated on petition, but was again returned at a bye-election four months later (Aug.). He drew up a statement of his services, and on 4 May 1627 was created Baron Fairfax of Cameron in the peerage of Scotland. The grant was facilitated by a payment of 1,500l., for fees and other expenses. He complained that he had to provide the bags required by the royal emissaries to convey the coin from Denton to Scotland.
Fairfax spent the remainder of his life at Denton, taking, however, even to the last, an active interest in northern political affairs. Archbishop Matthews having complained that of his three sons one had wit without grace, another grace without wit, and a third neither grace nor wit, Fairfax to comfort him said that of his own three sons, Ferdinando, bred to be a soldier, was a mere coward; Henry [q.v.] , meant for a divine, was only good as a lawyer; and Charles, sent to the inns of court, was no lawyer though a sound divine. He said on another occasion that he expected something from his grandson, Thomas, afterwards the general [q.v.] , but shortly before his death told his son Charles [q.v.] that he was in great trouble about his family, thinking that it would be ruined after his death by the ambition of Thomas, ‘led much by his wife.’ On 12 June 1639 he wrote to his ‘ever-loving grandchild, Thomas Fairfax, captain of a troop of horse in his majesty's service,’ exhorting him to serve the king, obey his general, avoid private quarrels, and do his best against the common enemy (the Scots), having apparently some doubts of ‘Tom's’ prudence.
Fairfax died 1 May 1640. He was buried by the side of his wife, who had died in 1620, in the south transept of Otley Church, where a large altar-tomb, surmounted with their effigies, still commemorates their virtues. The legend, written by Edward Fairfax the poet, Fairfax's brother, describes his wife:
Here lies Leah's fruitfulness, here Rachel's beauty;
Here Rebecca's faith, here Sarah's duty.
Besides the sons mentioned above, Fairfax had two daughters: Dorothy, married to Sir William Constable, and Anne, wife of Sir George Wentworth of Woolley.
Fairfax is said in ‘Analecta Fairfaxiana’ to have written: 1. A discourse, containing 150 pages, entitled ‘Dangers Diverted, or the Highway to Heidelbergh.’ 2. ‘Conjectures about Horsemanship.’ 3. ‘The Malitia of Yorkshire.’ 4. A large tract on the Yorkshire cavalry and against horse racing. 5. ‘The Malitia of Durham.’ 6. ‘Orders for the House,’ &c. 7. Many excellent treatises upon several subjects and not bound together.
Sources
Herald and Genealogist, October 1870; Fairfax Correspondence, vols. i. and ii.; Douglas and Wood's Scottish Peerage, i. 560; Markham's History of the third Lord Fairfax; Hart's Lecture on Wharfdale; Analecta Fairfaxiana (manuscript).
Contributor: T. P.
Original date of publication: 1888
Fairfax, Thomas, FIRST BARON FAIRFAX OF CAMERON IN THE SCOTTISH PEERAGE (1560–1640), eldest son of Sir Thomas Fairfax of Denton and Nun Appleton, both in Yorkshire, was born at Bilbrough, near York, in 1560. As a young man he saw much service in the Low Countries, where he commanded a company of foot under Sir Francis Vere. In 1582 he married Ellen, daughter of Robert Aske of Aughton, Yorkshire. Before and after the death of Mary Queen of Scots he was employed by Elizabeth on several diplomatic communications with James VI of Scotland. James offered him a title, which he had the prudence to decline. In 1588 he tendered his services to James to suppress a rebellion under Lord Maxwell; and on the death of Elizabeth he was, with six near kindred, one of the first Englishmen who went to Scotland to swear fealty to the king. He had served in France under the Earl of Essex, and was knighted by him before Rouen in 1591. He was M.P. for Lincoln 1586, for Aldborough 1588, and for Boroughbridge 1601.
After the accession of James I to the throne, he settled down upon his estate at Denton. He bred horses, and wrote a treatise entitled ‘Conjectures about Horsemanship,’ yet extant in manuscript. He ruled his household with military precision. ‘The Order for the Government of the House at Denton,’ laying down in great detail the duties of every servant, is also extant, and gives an admirable picture of a gentleman's household at that period.
As a member of the council of the north he was brought into connection with Lord Sheffield, its president. His eldest son, Sir Ferdinando Fairfax [q.v.] , married Sheffield's daughter, Mary, in 1607. In 1620 Fairfax's younger sons, William and John, were with the English army in the Low Countries. A letter from William states that his ‘white-haired father’ had come over to join them, bought horses and arms, and been received with the respect due to his former services. He soon returned, however, and in 1621 heard from their general that both his sons had been killed at the siege of Frankenthal. Two other sons are stated by Thoresby to have died a violent death in the same year: Peregrine at La Rochelle and Thomas in Turkey. Upon the accession of Charles I, Fairfax was elected M.P. for Yorkshire in 1625, and was unseated on petition, but was again returned at a bye-election four months later (Aug.). He drew up a statement of his services, and on 4 May 1627 was created Baron Fairfax of Cameron in the peerage of Scotland. The grant was facilitated by a payment of 1,500l., for fees and other expenses. He complained that he had to provide the bags required by the royal emissaries to convey the coin from Denton to Scotland.
Fairfax spent the remainder of his life at Denton, taking, however, even to the last, an active interest in northern political affairs. Archbishop Matthews having complained that of his three sons one had wit without grace, another grace without wit, and a third neither grace nor wit, Fairfax to comfort him said that of his own three sons, Ferdinando, bred to be a soldier, was a mere coward; Henry [q.v.] , meant for a divine, was only good as a lawyer; and Charles, sent to the inns of court, was no lawyer though a sound divine. He said on another occasion that he expected something from his grandson, Thomas, afterwards the general [q.v.] , but shortly before his death told his son Charles [q.v.] that he was in great trouble about his family, thinking that it would be ruined after his death by the ambition of Thomas, ‘led much by his wife.’ On 12 June 1639 he wrote to his ‘ever-loving grandchild, Thomas Fairfax, captain of a troop of horse in his majesty's service,’ exhorting him to serve the king, obey his general, avoid private quarrels, and do his best against the common enemy (the Scots), having apparently some doubts of ‘Tom's’ prudence.
Fairfax died 1 May 1640. He was buried by the side of his wife, who had died in 1620, in the south transept of Otley Church, where a large altar-tomb, surmounted with their effigies, still commemorates their virtues. The legend, written by Edward Fairfax the poet, Fairfax's brother, describes his wife:
Here lies Leah's fruitfulness, here Rachel's beauty;
Here Rebecca's faith, here Sarah's duty.
Besides the sons mentioned above, Fairfax had two daughters: Dorothy, married to Sir William Constable, and Anne, wife of Sir George Wentworth of Woolley.
Fairfax is said in ‘Analecta Fairfaxiana’ to have written: 1. A discourse, containing 150 pages, entitled ‘Dangers Diverted, or the Highway to Heidelbergh.’ 2. ‘Conjectures about Horsemanship.’ 3. ‘The Malitia of Yorkshire.’ 4. A large tract on the Yorkshire cavalry and against horse racing. 5. ‘The Malitia of Durham.’ 6. ‘Orders for the House,’ &c. 7. Many excellent treatises upon several subjects and not bound together.
Sources
Herald and Genealogist, October 1870; Fairfax Correspondence, vols. i. and ii.; Douglas and Wood's Scottish Peerage, i. 560; Markham's History of the third Lord Fairfax; Hart's Lecture on Wharfdale; Analecta Fairfaxiana (manuscript).
Contributor: T. P.
Original date of publication: 1888