Fairfax, Thomas, 3rd Baron Fairfax Of Cameron

(1612-1671)

   He was born at Denton, Yorkshire, son of Ferdinando, second Lord Fairfax, and educated at St. John's College, Cambridge. From 1629 to 1631 he fought with the Dutch against the Spanish; he participated in the Bishops' Wars (1639 and 1640) against the Scots (an attempt by Charles 1I to impose on the Scots a new Book of Common Prayer). He was knighted in January 1640 and succeeded to his father's title in 1648. He distinguished himself as Parliamentarian general during the Civil Wars and was seriously wounded in the siege of Helmsley Castle, Yorkshire (September 1644). He was largely responsible for the defeat of Charles I at Naseby, Northamptonshire ( June 14, 1645), although he actively sought to prevent the death of Charles I. He was one of the members of Parliament who invited Charles II to become monarch. So incensed was he at the desecration of Cromwell's remains that he retired from politics. Some of his poems: "On the Fatal Day January 30, 1648," "Shortness of Life," "Upon the New Building at Appleton."

   Sources: Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite DVD, 2006. The Bodleian Library, Oxford (http://search.ox.ac.uk/). The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry, Columbia University Press, 2005 (http://www.columbiagrangers.org). The National Portrait Gallery (www.npg.org.uk). The New Oxford Book of Sixteenth Century Verse. Emrys Jones, ed. Oxford University Press, 1991.