Thomas Fairfax (Col.)
b. Boroughbridge Yorks. 1488
d. Edinburgh 1563
English soldier and philosopher.
Following the accession of Henry VII in 1485, a major change in English
society saw the emergence of a new class, the civilian gentry. While
most of the new gentry were drawn from the old class of knights, others
including Thomas Fairfax (grandfather of the subject of this essay)
entered it by the purchase of land confiscated from those nobles and
knights who had sided against Henry Tudor in the final phase of the
Wars of the Roses.
Anxious to enhance his position, Thomas Fairfax was only too pleased
when his neighbour Sir John Poltwhistle (one of the old knights) agreed
to the marriage of his son Richard to his daughter Anne. Poltwhistle,
although of the older generation of gentry had been impoverished by the
Wars and was on his part delighted at the opportunity of reviving has
family's fortune. The marriage took place in 1487, and Richard and
Anne's first and only son was born in 1488.
Unlike his father and grandfather, young Thomas Fairfax proved to be of
a military bent and through the agency of his uncle Geoffrey
Poltwhistle secured a command in the king's forces. It was in the
French campaign of 1512 that the dashing young officer truly made his
mark, earning a reputation as a courageous if reckless leader. His
swift decisive attacks frequently turned an action, but he was
criticized for being willing to place himself at risk to save his
men. Early in 1513 he transferred from the king's French campaign to
the queen's forces in Scotland, here he served under Sir Richard
Cholmondeley (later to become lieutenant of the Tower of London). Again
his courage and decisiveness proved crucial, most notably in
precipitating the final rout of the Scottish forces at
Flodden. Following this battle he was granted large estates in
Scotland.
Following the pageant of the Field of the Cloth of Gold, Thomas Fairfax
retired from the military life and returned to his Yorkshire estates
where he devoted himself to study. His estates, meanwhile has excited
the envy of his cousin Sir Clarence Poltwhistle, who had by this time
risen to become one of king Henry's secretaries of state. Poltwhistle
had (as was not uncommon at that time) exhausted the reserves of his
own estates in maintaining a courtly lifestyle and being aware that the
marriage contract between Richard Fairfax and Anne Poltwhistle had
stipulated that in the the event of their deaths without issue or the
death of their heir while unmarried the Fairfax estates would devolve
to him he decided on a devious course of action. At the time the Church
was very suspicious of secular scholarship, so it was no difficult task
to persuade the ecclesiastical authorities that Thomas Fairfax's
studies were heretical and involved dealings with the devil. As a
result he was arrested in the spring of 1522 and following a show trial
condemned to die.
It is following his arrest and imprisonment in the Tower that Fairfax's
story becomes truly bizzarre. On the very day of his execution, he was
wed (with the assistance of his old commander Cholmondeley) to a
stolling street singer in an attempt to thwart his cousin (had he died
married but without issue has estates would go to his sister and her
heirs). But at almost the same time he was smuggled from his cell. It
is thought that this escape may have been aided by Godfrey Meryll a
sergeant in the Yeomen Warders who had served under Fairfax in France
(but this was never proved).
Less than a week after the scheduled execution, a royal pardon for
Fairfax was delivered to the Tower, this had been sealed by the king in
person fully three days before the execution should have
happened. (This was Poltwhitle's last act of villany, when his
involvement in the delay was uncovered, he was imprisoned in the Tower
where he remained for many years). On his reprieve Fairfax miraculously
reappeared, and to the surprise of most honoured his marriage to the
street singer Elsie Maynard. Owing to the suspicions surrounding his
escape and the disapproval of his marriage in high places, they retired
to his Scottish estates where they lived for many years.
Their son Charles found favour with the Scottish nobility, and in
particular those surrounding the future king James VI. His son (another
Thomas) was much involved in the negotiations between Elizabeth of
England and James VI and was thus able to return to the ancestral
estates in Yorkshire. He was enobled by Charles I, but his son
Ferdinando and grandson (yet another Thomas) were to take the
parliamentarian side in the Civil War where they had reputations as
bold and daring commanders like their ancestor.
It is not known if the composer Robert Fayrfax or the poet Edward
Fairfax were related, although in the latter case it seems probable.