styled 1624-26 Bar. Burghersh; styled 1626-28 Bar. Le Despenser; suc. fa. 23 Mar. 1629 as 2nd earl of WESTMORLAND
First sat 20 Feb. 1641; first sat after 1660, 12 May 1660; last sat 17 May 1664
MP Peterborough 1621, Kent 1625, Peterborough 1626, 1628
b. 24 Jan. 1602, 1st s. of Sir Francis Fane† (later earl of Westmorland), and Mary Mildmay (d.1640), da. of Sir Anthony Mildmay, of Apethorpe; bro. of George Fane‡. educ. Emmanuel, Camb. 1618, MA 1619; travelled abroad (France) ?1620, (France, Italy, Switzerland) 1622-5;1 L. Inn 1622. m. (1) 6 July 1626, Grace (d.1636), da. of Sir William Thornhurst of Agnes Court, Old Romney, Kent, 1s. 5da. (2 d.v.p);2 (2) 21 June 1638, Mary (d.1669), da. of Horace Vere†, Bar. Vere of Tilbury, wid. of Sir Roger Townshend‡, bt., 3s. (1 d.v.p.) 6da. (1 d.v.p.).3 KB 1 Feb.1626. d. 12 Feb. 1666; will 20 Sept. 1662, pr. 17 May 1666.4
Freeman, Maidstone 1617; dep. lt. Northants. by 1627; commr. array Northants. and Kent 1642;5 capt. vol. horse Northants. c.1660; ld. lt. (jt.) Northants. 1660-d.
Capt. of horse (roy.) 1642.
Associated with: Apethorpe, Northants. and Mereworth Castle, Kent.
Likenesses: line engraving by P. Williamson (1662), NPG 8277.
The Fane family originated in Monmouthshire but had settled in Kent by the early sixteenth century. Although the 1st earl’s marriage to Mary Mildmay of Apethorpe brought the family new estates and established him as one of the most significant Northamptonshire magnates, the union also brought with it conflicting religious loyalties: the Mildmays being staunchly puritan, the Fanes creatures of the court. During James I’s reign Apethorpe became a centre of political activity, and it was there that James I was said to have been introduced to George Villiers† (later duke of Buckingham).
Le Despenser succeeded his father as earl of Westmorland in 1629. During the following decade he acquired a number of local offices while, through his second marriage, he was brought into close contact with prominent opposition figures. The Veres were cousins to the Harley family and the new Lady Westmorland’s sister, Anne, was married to Thomas Fairfax‡, Lord Fairfax of Cameron [S].6
Despite his new connections, Westmorland was a determined (though not uncritical) royalist in the years leading up to the Civil War. On the outbreak of hostilities he initially took his stand with the king, serving as a captain in the Prince of Wales’ Regiment of Horse, but following his capture and imprisonment in the Tower in 1642 he broke with the royalists and concentrated on making his peace with Parliament and securing his property.7 Following the collapse of one attempt to resolve the conflict Westmorland wrote to his cousin Edward Harley‡,
I wish I were but a hewer of wood or a water tanker in this great work begun of reformation wherein the devil and wicked men cause yet so great many rubs … I am sorry the treaty ends without beginning, the summer will be the hotter if God (who alone can) prevent not.8
Westmorland was fined £2,000 and his estates were sequestered for delinquency, but in 1643 he petitioned to be released from his imprisonment in the Tower and restored to favour.9 The following year he compounded for £1,000.10 He retired to Apethorpe where he concentrated on the composition of dramatic lampoons, many directed against his brother-in-law, Fairfax.11
Westmorland may have been peripherally involved with the Sealed Knot, but it seems unlikely that he took a particularly prominent part in any royalist plotting. He does, though, appear to have fallen victim to a confidence trick perpetrated by a Mr. Brett, who claimed to be collecting funds for the exiled Charles II. Edward Hyde, later earl of Clarendon, wondered that ‘any friends should be so cheated’ but commented witheringly that while he was ‘glad that good earl has so much respect for the king … even if he parts freely with his money to such people … he has never sent any to the king himself.’12
In advance of the summoning of the Convention, Westmorland was noted by Philip Wharton, 4th Baron Wharton, as one of the peers ‘with the king’. Westmorland took his place in the House on 12 May 1660, after which he was present on 65 per cent of all sitting days prior to the adjournment, but he seems to have made little impact on the House’s business. On 14 May he was added to the committee for petitions, but he appears otherwise to have been named to just one committee, that for the bill for the encouragement of shipping and navigation on 6 September. On 31 July, when the House was called over, although he was missing from the attendance list, his name did not appear on the list of missing peers either, so it seems likely that he took his seat late. He failed to resume his place after the September adjournment and was then absent for the entirety of the second session of the Convention because of poor health.13
Despite his ambiguous behaviour during the preceding two decades, following the Restoration Westmorland was, with John Cecil, 4th earl of Exeter, appointed joint lord lieutenant for Northamptonshire. Perhaps significantly, Robert Brudenell, later 2nd earl of Cardigan and son to Westmorland’s old comrade, was included as one of the officers in Westmorland’s own militia troop.14 Shortly before the coronation (which he failed to attend) he wrote to Brudenell, critical of the latest round of new honours, commenting that
The glory now preparing is not in excelsis, which my age and infirmities make me more look after. The distribution of honours has brought on contempt. I wear Spanish breeches, so need no garters, and for the Bath I have been in friar’s weeds and a knight already … for claims, I renounce them all, but to be able to serve my God, my king, my country, and my friend …15
For all Westmorland’s apparent disgruntlement, his appointment as joint lord lieutenant in Northamptonshire is indicative of the king’s confidence in him, and Westmorland and Exeter appeared eager to fulfil their task efficiently.16 Northamptonshire, strongly populated by dissenters, had been steadfastly parliamentarian, and Westmorland and Exeter appear to have been vigorous in executing their commissions. In January 1661 the two lieutenants wrote to the council boasting that, ‘there is not a man known to be of evil principles or … [who], has shown himself … to bear any disaffection to his majesty … but we have disarmed and secured them.’17 In 1662 Westmorland was paid £50 from secret service funds to organize the dismantling of Northampton’s walls, though the two lieutenants complained that £500 would scarcely cover the costs involved.18 In the event Westmorland was able to report that the dismantling of the walls had almost been completed towards the end of July and the task was accomplished for £148.19
Westmorland took his place shortly after the opening of the new Parliament on 14 May 1661, after which he was present on just 20 per cent of all sitting days. His participation in the House’s business appears again to have continued to have been minimal, and he was named to just three committees. On 19 July he was named to that considering the Militia bill and the bill for preserving deer and on 27 July to the committee for the bill for preventing disorderly printing. On the question of who would be appointed to the lord great chamberlainship Westmorland commented, ‘The contest for the white staff I guess will be canvassable, yet I reserve my voice as I told Lindsey [Montagu Bertie, 2nd earl of Lindsey], my self secundum alegata & probate [according to allegation and proof].’20 Clearly, Westmorland was unimpressed by Lindsey’s blandishments, and in an assessment of 11 July Westmorland was noted instead as one of those likely to support the claims of Aubrey de Vere, 20th earl of Oxford.
Missing at a call of the House of 25 Nov. 1661, on 9 Dec. Westmorland registered his proxy with John Granville, earl of Bath. It was presumably this absence from the latter stages of the session to which he referred in a letter to his stepson, Horatio Townshend, Baron (later Viscount) Townshend, (merely dated 23 Mar.) in which he stated that he had registered his proxy as he was too unwell to attend.21 Both Westmorland and Exeter may also have been distracted by the demands of their lieutenancy at this time. They complained that their deputies had been too slow in settling the militia and that they expected speedier progress. The deputies’ failure to oversee their task may have been in part the result of the two lieutenants being incapacitated by ‘the ague’ and ‘the gout’.22
In addition to his concerns with his lieutenancy, Westmorland also maintained an interest in Emmanuel Cambridge, which had been founded by one of his forebears. At the beginning of November 1662 he wrote to the newly appointed master, William Sancroft, later archbishop of Canterbury, to congratulate him on his appointment and to recommend to his care his youngest son, Henry.23 Absent for the entirety of the second session, Westmorland was excused his attendance on 23 Feb. 1663, and he appears to have continued indisposed throughout the year. Excused once more on 4 Apr. 1664 he resumed his place eventually in the third session on 5 May 1664, but he was thereafter present on only ten sitting days (just under 28 per cent of the whole), during which he was named to two committees, both on 9 May. It is unclear whether he played a significant role in either. Westmorland sat for the final time on 17 May 1664. At a call on 7 Dec. it was noted that he intended to send a proxy to cover his absence, which was again registered with Bath, on 27 December.
Westmorland died on 12 Feb. 1666 and was buried at Apethorpe. In his will Westmorland made provision for portions of £3,000 apiece to his daughters Katherine and Susanna and an annuity of £200 for his younger son, Henry. He left it to his heir, Charles Fane, styled Lord Le Despenser, who succeeded in the peerage as 3rd earl of Westmorland, to see to it that another daughter, Frances, received her unpaid portion of £2,500. Concluding, Westmorland admonished his family to,
live in amity and godly love one with another that they may accord and be consonant to that ditty the princely prophet warbled out: Behold how good and joyful a thing it is, brethren, to live together in unity which god of his goodness grant them grace to do.
R.D.E.E.
- 1 Add. 34220, f. 6; APC, 1621-3, p. 323.
- 2 Add. 34220, f. 9; VCH Northants. Fams.
- 3 Add. 34220, f. 10; VCH Northants. Fams.
- 4 TNA, PROB. 11/322.
- 5 HMC Montagu, 155.
- 6 Otia Sacra ed. D. Friedman, vi.
- 7 J. Wake, Brudenells of Deene, 130n; Northants. Past and Present, vii. 397; Add. 34220, f. 14; G.W. Morton, Mildmay Fane, 38-39.
- 8 Add. 61989, f. 109.
- 9 HMC 7th Rep. 446; HMC Bath, i. 16.
- 10 CCC, 832.
- 11 VCH Northants. iii. 547.
- 12 CCSP, iv. 192, 197.
- 13 Northants. RO, Brudenell ms I. x. 18.
- 14 Add. 34222, ff. 12-13.
- 15 Northants. RO, Brudenell ms I. x. 17, 20; Wake, 167.
- 16 CSP Dom. 1661-2, p. 561.
- 17 Add. 34222, f. 17.
- 18 CSP Dom. 1661-2, p. 431; Add. 34222, ff. 25-26.
- 19 Bodl. Clarendon 77, f. 66; Add. 34222, ff. 34-35.
- 20 Northants. RO, Brudenell ms I. x. 17.
- 21 HMC Townshend, 36.
- 22 Add. 34222, f. 40.
- 23 Bodl. Tanner 158, f. 129.