Ferdinando Fairfax, 2nd Lord Fairfax of Cameron

The Lord Fairfax of Cameron
2nd Lord Fairfax of Cameron
Tenure	1640–1648
Known for	Commander in the Parliamentary army
Born	(1584-03-29)29 March 1584 Yorkshire, England
Died	14 March 1648(1648-03-14)(aged 63) Bolton Percy, Yorkshire, England
Nationality	English

Ferdinando Fairfax, 2nd Lord Fairfax of Cameron(29 March 1584 – 14 March 1648) was an English nobleman and politician who sat in theHouse of Commonsat various times between 1614 and 1648. He was a commander in theParliamentaryarmy in theEnglish Civil War.

He should not be confused with his better known son,Thomas Fairfax,who commanded theNew Model Army.

Early life

Denton Hall today

He was born inYorkshire,the eldest son of Ellen Aske andThomas Fairfax, 1st Lord Fairfax of Cameron,whomCharles Iin 1627 createdLord Fairfax of Cameronin thePeerage of Scotlandand received a military education in theNetherlands.Two of his brothers wereHenry FairfaxandCharles Fairfax.Four others were killed on military service overseas.

Political career

He served as member of theEnglish parliamentforBoroughbridgeduring the six parliaments which met between 1614 and 1629 and also during theShort Parliamentof 1640. In May 1640 he succeeded his father as Lord Fairfax, but being aScottishpeer he sat in theEnglish House of Commonsas one of the representatives ofYorkshireduring theLong Parliamentfrom 1640 until his death. He took the side of the parliament, but held moderate views and desired to maintain the peace. His main seat wasDenton HallinWharfedale,Yorkshire.

Military service

In the firstBishops' WarFairfax had commanded a regiment in the king's army; then on the outbreak of theEnglish Civil Warin 1642 he became commander of the parliamentary forces in Yorkshire, withNewcastleas his opponent. Hostilities began after the repudiation of atreaty of neutralityentered into by Fairfax with theRoyalists.At first Fairfax met with no success. He was driven fromYork,where he was besieging the Royalists, toSelby;then in 1643 toLeeds;and after beating off an attack at that place he was totally defeated on 30 June 1643 at theBattle of Adwalton Moor.He escaped toHull,which he successfully defended against Newcastle from 2 September until 11 October 1643, and by means of a brilliant sally caused the siege to be raised. Fairfax was victorious atSelbyon 11 April 1644, and joining the Scots, besieged York, after which he was present at theBattle of Marston Moor(2 July 1644), where he commanded the infantry and was routed. He was subsequently, in July 1644, made Governor of York and charged with the further reduction of the county. In December 1644 he took the town ofPontefract,but failed to secure the castle.

During his command in Yorkshire, Fairfax engaged in a paper war with Newcastle, and wrote "The Answer of Ferdinando, Lord Fairfax, to a Declaration of William, Earl of Newcastle" (1642; printed in Rushworth, pt. iii. vol. ii. p. 139); he also published "A Letter from... Lord Fairfax to... Robert, Earl of Essex" (1643), describing the victorious sally at Hull.

Later life

Fairfax resigned his command on the passing of theSelf-denying Ordinance,but remained a member of the Committee for the Government of Yorkshire and was appointed, on 24 July 1645, steward of the manor of Pontefract. He died from an accident which causedgangrenein his footon 14 March 1648 and was buried atAll Saints' Church, Bolton Percy,in Yorkshire.

Marriages and issue

Fairfax married twice. By his first wife, Mary, daughter ofEdmund Sheffield(afterwards 1st Earl of Mulgrave), he had six daughters and two sons:Thomas Fairfax,who succeeded him as the third Lord Fairfax, and Charles, a colonel of horse, who was killed at Marston Moor.He married his second wife, Rhoda Chapman, widow ofThomas Hussey,in October 1646: they had one child, a daughter Ursula.

External links

• Archival Material atLeeds University Library

Attribution:

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911). "Fairfax of Cameron, Ferdinando Fairfax, 2nd Baron".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 10 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 130–131.
• This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Firth, Charles Harding (1889). "Fairfax, Ferdinando".InStephen, Leslie(ed.).Dictionary of National Biography.Vol. 18. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 132–133.