BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF SIR WILLIAM GEORGE FAIRFAX, KNT. REAR-ADMIRAL OF THE BLUE SQUADRON

Summary

On Magna Charta's solid base

Britannia's Majesty shall stand,

Confin'd alone by boundless space,

Her sons shall conquer sea, and land.

Nor showers of lead, nor pointed steel,

Their native ardour shall withhold,

Thrice happy.

Lyric Odes.

The noble family of Fairfax is originally of Yorkshire extraction, and of considerable antiquity, the first person heraldically noticed as belonging to it is named Richard Fairfax, who held the high office of Lord Chief Justice of England in the reign of King Henry the Sixth. His third son Sir Guy Fairfax being, like his father, bred to the profession of the law, became Attorney General, and afterwards one of the Judges in the Court of King's Bench, an office he continued to hold during the reigns of King Edward the Sixth, Richard the Third, and his successor Henry the Seventh. Having acquired a noble fortune he built Steton castle in the county of York, which immediately became the seat of his family. He married Margaret daughter to Sir William Ryther, of Ryther, and by her had Sir William his heir, together with Thomas, who married Cicely, second daughter to Sir Robert Manners, ancestor of the Duke of Rutland. Sir William his son, who succeeded, was also bred up in the profession of the law, and was appointed by King Henry the Eighth, one of the Justices of the Court of Common Pleas. Having married Elizabeth also daughter to the said Sir Robert Manners, by her he had Sir William his heir, and four daughters.