Sir Nicholas Fairfax (1498/99 – 1571), of

Gilling Castle Gilling Castle is a Grade I listed English country house, country house near Gilling East, North Yorkshire, England (). History The castle was originally the home of the Etton family, who appeared there at the end of the 12th century. It was ...

and Walton, Yorkshire, was an English politician. He was born the eldest son of Sir

Thomas Fairfax Sir Thomas Fairfax (17 January 1612 – 12 November 1671) was an English army officer and politician who commanded the New Model Army from 1645 to 1650 during the English Civil War. Because of his dark hair, he was known as "Black Tom" to his l ...

and Anne Fairfax, and educated at the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

. He succeeded his father in 1520 and was knighted before 1530. He was selected

High Sheriff of Yorkshire The Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities associated with the post have been transferred elsewhere o ...

for 1531–32, 1544–1555 and 1561–62. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) for

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

in 1542 and for

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

in 1547 and 1563. He died in 1571. He had married twice, firstly Jane, the daughter of Guy Palmes of Naburn, with whom he had at least 8 sons and at least 4 daughters and secondly Alice, the daughter of (Sir) John Harington of Exton, Rutland and the widow of Richard Flower of Whitwell, Rutland and of Sir Henry Sutton of Averham, Nottinghamshire. He was succeeded by his eldest son Sir

William Fairfax William Fairfax (1691–1757) was a political appointee of the British Crown in several colonies as well as a planter and politician in the Colony of Virginia. Fairfax served as Collector of Customs in Barbados, Chief Justice and governor of the ...

, who was also an MP for Yorkshire and High Sheriff of the county.

References

1490s births 1571 deaths People from Gilling East Members of the Middle Temple Knights Bachelor Members of the Parliament of England for constituencies in Yorkshire English MPs 1542–1544

Nicholas Nicholas is a male name, the Anglophone version of an ancient Greek name in use since antiquity, and cognate with the modern Greek , . It originally derived from a combination of two Ancient Greek, Greek words meaning 'victory' and 'people'. In ...

English MPs 1547–1552 English MPs 1563–1567 High sheriffs of Yorkshire {{1563-England-MP-stub