Thomas Fairfax, 5th Lord Fairfax of Cameron

For other people with the same name, see Thomas Fairfax (disambiguation).

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

Thomas Fairfax, 1684 portrait by John Riley

Life

Fairfax was the great-grandson of Thomas Fairfax, 1st Lord Fairfax of Cameron. His father was Henry Fairfax, 4th Lord Fairfax of Cameron, and his mother was Francis Barwick.

Fairfax graduated from Magdalen College, Oxford, in 1675. In 1688, he was Colonel of the Yorkshire Militia, under Sir Thomas Osborne, Earl of Danby. In 1690 and 1695, he was a member of Parliament as a Tory and Court supporter.[1]

In 1704 Fairfax obtained from Queen Anne a patent to search for wrecks and treasure in the West Indies, exclusive for three years. A company was formed, and three salvage vessels were sent. But the expedition was a financial failure.[2] In 1707 he was in parliament again, elected for Yorkshire in a by-election. But the 1707 Act of Union disqualified him as an MP, since Scottish peers could no longer be in the House of Commons.[3]

Family

In 1685, Fairfax married Catherine Colepepper, daughter of Thomas Colepeper, 2nd Baron Colepeper, and they had seven children: Thomas Fairfax, Henry Colpepper Fairfax, Katherine Fairfax, Margaret Fairfax, Frances Fairfax, Mary Fairfax, Robert Fairfax.[4]

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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