Lord Fairfax

“ In 1658 he went to France with the Earl of Kildare, and on his return was present at the marriage of the Duke of Buckingham with his cousin Mary Fairfax at Nun Appleton, Yorkshire. When Buckingham was sent to the Tower by the Protector, Brian accompanied Lord Fairfax to Whitehall when he went to demand his son-in-law's release. Brian was constantly with Lord Fairfax during the latter years of his life, and was present at his death. At the end of 1659 Lord Fairfax sent Brian Fairfax on a delicate and dangerous mission to Monck, then in Scotland. ”

“ He was given the command of a regiment in the army of Essex, which was stationed on the left wing at Edgehill and ran away (ib. xi. 475) . Fairfax then joined his uncle, Ferdinando, lord Fairfax [q. v.] , in Yorkshire, and took part in the capture of Leeds (23 Jan. 1643) and Wakefield (21 May 1643) . In a letter to his wife he says of himself and his cousin: ‘For Thomas's part and mine we rest neither night nor day nor will willingly till we have done God some good service against His and our enemies’ (Markham, Robert Fairfax, p. 14) . ”

“ Fairfax was severely defeated by General Goring on Seacroft Moor, as he was engaged in covering the retreat of Lord Fairfax and the main body of his army from Selby to Leeds (Mercurius Aulicus, 4 April 1643; Short Memorial, p. 16) . Nicholas, in relating this event to Prince Rupert, terms Fairfax ‘the man most beloved and relied upon by the rebels in the north’ (Warburton, ii. 150) . The capture of Wakefield on 21 May following amply compensated for this misfortune. No more remarkable success was gained by any general during the civil wars. ”

“ William Fairfax, father-in-law of Lawrence Washington—a gentleman who had attained social, political and military prominence in England, and in the East and West Indies. He had come to Virginia to take charge of the enormous 63estate of his cousin, Lord Fairfax, which, according to the original grant from the crown, was “for all the lands between the Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers.” This grant had been very liberally construed to include a large part of the land drained by affluents of these streams, embracing a considerable portion of the Shenandoah valley. ”

“ As for Lord Fairfax, he was in high glee to learn what a valuable property he had across the hills, and especially how fine a country it was for hunting. He soon left Belvoir and made his home at Greenway Court, where he spent the remainder of his life. It was a very different life from that of112 his early days in the bustle of fashionable life in London, but it seemed to suit him as well or better.
One thing more we have to say about him. He was still living at Greenway Court when the Revolutionary War came on. A loyalist in grain, he bitterly opposed the rebellion of the colonists. ”

“ It is rather ironic that neither Lord Culpeper nor Lord Fairfax, who inherited his estate and for whom the County and Town were named, cared particularly for Virginia. Lord Culpeper came under duress and returned as soon as possible to England. Lord Fairfax came, according to tradition, only after he had been disappointed in love in England and because his holdings demanded his attention. The people struggled on, however, and gradually the wealthy land owners began to move northward to occupy the tracts of land upon which their grandfathers had speculated. ”

“ His lordship overcame my objections, and I remained with him at the court several days, well pleased to be at rest.
When alone with Lord Fairfax, he showed me the affection and concern which, like myself, he was averse to displaying in company. After I had been made to give him a full account of the march and the battle, he said: “You will be wise to write and to say little of what took place, and to let others say what they will. The men who, having done something worthy of praise, [285] do not incline to speak of it, are sure to be enough spoken of by others.” ”

“ A great man in both England and America was Lord Fairfax; he owned many estates in both countries, but his favorite was this of Belvoir, not only because of its great natural beauty, but because he liked the company of the Virginia planters, who joined a certain frankness and simplicity of life with all the charms of European refinement. ”

“ And my lord is opposed to the French, and no doubt they have set the Indians against us; and then the Indians like the killing, just for the fun of the thing. I think I shall sleep with one eye open until I hear that Mr. Black Bear and his friends are no longer in this neighborhood."
That night, after supper, George and the Earl talked over Lance's suspicions. Lord Fairfax thought they were not ill founded, but he was not a man to excite himself over possibilities. ”

“ FAIRFAX, CHARLES (1597–1673) , antiquary and genealogist, born at Denton in Yorkshire 5 March 1597, was the seventh and third surviving son of Sir Thomas (afterwards first Lord) Fairfax [q. v.] He entered Trinity College, Cambridge, 5 Oct. 1611, and was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn 9 March 1618. About 1627 he married Mary, sole heiress of the Breary family, of Scough Hall in the forest of Knaresborough and Menston. His life was spent chiefly on his wife's patrimony at Menston, Yorkshire, as the trusted counsellor and faithful annalist of his family. ”

“ He talked lightly of women, but so did his officers, and in a manner we in Virginia should have considered to be unmannerly or worse. Also he told me that the French encouraged their soldiers to take wives among the young squaws, a thing our people never inclined to do. He seemed to have known many English gentlemen who had been in Paris, and even why Lord Fairfax had left England, all of which story I could have heard from him if I had thought proper so to do, which I did not. ”

“ LORD FAIRFAX. (Vol. ix., p. 10.)
The following is all the information which I have been able to collect respecting the present possessor of the title of Fairfax of Cameron, in answer to the third Query of W. H. M. It gives me pleasure to communicate it.
The Lords Fairfax have been for several generations natives of the United States. The present possessor of the title is not so called, but is known as Mr. Fairfax. He resides at present in Suter County, California. His Christian names are George William. ”

“ Never was so mighty a revolution accomplished with so little bloodshed. But it required all the wisdom and vigor of Fairfax and Cromwell to repress the ultra radical spirit which had crept into several detachments of the army, and to baffle the movements which the Scots were making in favor of Charles Stuart, who had already been proclaimed king by the parliament of Scotland, and in Ireland by the Marquis of Ormond. ”

“ Anne married Lawrence Washington, and was the first mistress of Mount Vernon; and Sarah married John Carlyle, of Alexandria, Va., who was a major and commissary in the French and Indian war. Mr. Fairfax married, January 18, 1731, Deborah Clarke, of Salem, Mass. Her first child was Bryan, 8th Lord Fairfax, born at Salem 1732, but better known as the Rev. Bryan Fairfax, who died in 1802. In 1734 Wm. Fairfax accepted an offer, he had before declined, to remove to Virginia and act as agent for his cousin, Lord Thomas Fairfax, in the management of the vast Fairfax land estate. ”

“ When not at Williamsburg attending the assembly, the young Fairfaxes resided at Belvoir, where Sally acted as hostess for her widowed father-in-law or the bachelor Lord from Greenway Court. This house, after the Palace at Williamsburg, was the center of the social and political life of Virginia. The Fairfaxes were of ancient, noble lineage, with ample fortune, representing the very best in Old World culture. William Fairfax, as President of the Council, was second only in importance to the royal governor, serving as head of the state during the absences of His Excellency. ”

“ It is evident that the old Lord Thomas Fairfax was a military character, and in his earnest desire of continuing a line of heroes, had preconcerted to make his eldest son a military man, who we discover turned out to be admirably fitted for a worshipful justice of the quorum. ”

“ And indeed, as King very cogently goes on to argue, your tinker-captain is capable of anything.
222 It was Sir Horace Vere (1565-1635) , afterwards Lord Vere of Tilbury, under whom Fairfax served, and whose daughter Anne he married.
231 Whalley (spelt, as often with the name, Whaley in printed original) is cleared by others, though he is said by them as by King to have been present and to have had some private grudge against Lisle. Lucas had not only thrown Fairfax's troops into disorder at Marston Moor but is said by some to have actually wounded him in the face. ”

“ If life as it went on chose with backward fling to close portals behind him of its own accord, he at least would not assist fate, and with both hands, generously, as his heart was generous, Fairfax threw all gates wide. ”

“ The ball-room was thronged, and the two without could hear, close to the casement, the swish of brocaded robes on the shining oaken floor. From the raised gallery came the slow air of a minuet, the fiddlers' strains blending with the tones of the flute and the sweet tinkle of a harp.
The loiterers on the terrace had not taken many turns before Sir John Fairfax joined them.
'I may but stay a moment,' he said. 'The house should not be left thus.'
'The house is very well, dear lad,' said his wife serenely. 'My guests are never dull, for the reason that dull folk are never my guests. ”

“ On the way out to Versailles from the top of the tram, lifted high above Paris and the river, alongside of the vulgar head, alongside of the strange little English girl, Fairfax listened to the outpouring of her heart. She took his interest for granted. With an appreciative understanding of human nature, and as though she had been bearing a burden for years which she had never let slip, she rested it now, and her blue eyes on his, her hands in the old woollen gloves, which she had slipped on before they started, clasped in her lap, she talked to Fairfax. ”

“ Fairfax continued to reside in his own house at Barking, and used all opportunities of preaching. He received pecuniary assistance from Dame Brook (d. 22 July 1683, aged 82) , widow of Sir Robert Brook of Cockfield Hall, near Yoxford, Suffolk, a lady who, while thinking separation on account of nonconformity unreasonable, ‘relieved many sober nonconformists with great bounty.’ He was also aided by his neighbour, John Meadows [q. v.] , an ejected minister of good property, who afterwards married his niece. Fairfax's preaching got him more than once into prison. ”

“ Antony lit a cigarette and Dearborn lighted his from Antony's. The two friends settled themselves comfortably. It was the close of the day. Without, as usual, rolled the sea of the Paris streets, going to, going with the river's tide, and going away from it; the impersonal noise always made for them an accompaniment not disagreeable. The last light of the spring day fell on Fairfax's uncovered work, on the damp clay with the fresh marks of his instruments. He sat in his corduroys, a red scarf at his throat, a beautiful manly figure half curled up on the divan. ”

“ In May 1640 he succeeded his father as Baron Fairfax, but being a Scottish peer he sat in the English House of Commons as one of the representatives of Yorkshire during the Long Parliament from 1640 until his death; he took the side of the parliament, but held moderate views and desired to maintain the peace. In the first Scottish war Fairfax had commanded a regiment in the king’s army; then on the outbreak of the Civil War in 1642 he was made commander of the parliamentary forces in Yorkshire, with Newcastle as his opponent. ”

“ His personal courage was so conspicuous that his enemies denied him the other qualities of a general. Walker styles him ‘a gentleman of an irrational and brutish valour’ (Hist. of Independency, ed. 1660, i. 29) . But Fairfax had also signal merits as a leader. He was remarkable for the rapidity of his marches, the vigour of his attacks, and the excellence of the discipline which he maintained. In his Yorkshire campaigns, though always outnumbered, he continually took the offensive. ”

“ But they are decent, trustful sort of people and can't believe a chap won't ever pay. But I was fool enough to leave my father's cable in my room and Madame Poulet had it translated. I grant you it wasn't encouraging for a creditor, Rainsford."
Antony heard his name used for the first time, the R's rolled and made the most of. It seemed to bring back the dead.
"Listen to the cable," said the communicative young man: "'You can go to the devil. Not a cent more from me or your mother.'"
Fairfax, who was tying his cravat, turned around and smiled, and he limped over to his visitor. ”

“ Her morning's outing, the tramp and the excitement, were an unusual strain to Molly, not to speak of her emotions, and she cried herself to sleep. [Pg 97]
Fairfax sat every Sunday in the same pew. The seat was to the left of the altar, and he sang with an ardour and a mellowness that was lost neither on the people near him nor on the choir-master. All arts were sympathetic to him: his ear was good and his voice agreeable. ”

“ She had been in grey when he had first seen her on the day of the unveiling of the monument. Fairfax passed his hand across his eyes, as though to brush away a vision which, like a mist, was still between them. He put his hand down over hers on the pedestal.
"I love you," he said very low. "That is the matter. That is the trouble. I love you. I want you to know it. I dare love you. I am perfectly penniless and I am glad of it. I want to owe everything to my art, to climb through the thorns to where I shall some day reach. ”