
Sir Faithful Fortescue (1585–1666), of
Dromiskin in
County Louth
County Louth ( ; ga, An Lú) is a coastal county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. Louth is bordered by the counties of Meath to the south, Monaghan to the west, Armagh to the north and Down to the ...
, Ireland, was
Governor of Carrickfergus
Carrickfergus Castle (from the Irish ''Carraig Ḟergus'' or "cairn of Fergus", the name "Fergus" meaning "strong man") is a Norman castle in Northern Ireland, situated in the town of Carrickfergus in County Antrim, on the northern shore of ...
in Ireland, long the chief seat and garrison of the English in
Ulster and was a
royalist commander during the
English Civil War.
Origins
Fortescue was born in 1585, the third son of John Fortescue (d. 1604) of
Buckland Filleigh in
Devon, but the first by his second wife Susannah Chichester, eldest daughter of Sir
John Chichester (c. 1516/22-1569) of
Raleigh in the parish of
Pilton and of
Youlston both in North Devon, a
Member of Parliament,
Sheriff of Devon in 1552 and 1557, by his wife Gertrude Courtenay, a daughter of
Sir William Courtenay (1477–1535) of
Powderham in Devon. One of Susannah's brothers was
Arthur Chichester, 1st Baron Chichester of Belfast (1563–1625), who was to play such an influential role in the life of Faithful Fortescue.
Although Faithful's father's second marriage is not mentioned in the
Heraldic Visitation return made in 1620 by his elder half-brother Roger Fortescue of Buckland Filleigh, this second marriage is recorded in the parish register of
Heanton Punchardon in Devon, near Raleigh, on 22 September 1584, and although the first name of the groom is illegible, the will of Susanna's brother Arthur Chichester, 1st Baron Chichester confirms the marriage when he mentions "my nephew Sir Faithful Fortescue".
Faithful was baptised on 22 August 1585 at
Wear Gifford
Wear is the damaging, gradual removal or deformation of material at solid surfaces. Causes of wear can be mechanical (e.g., erosion) or chemical (e.g., corrosion). The study of wear and related processes is referred to as tribology.
Wear in m ...
, North Devon, which manor was then a seat of his father's third cousin, Hugh Fortescue (1545–1600) of Wear Giffard Hall and of
Filleigh,
Sheriff of Devon in 1583, who was married to Elizabeth Chichester, Faithful's aunt, whose descendant later in the 18th century was created
Earl Fortescue. The Fortescues of Filleigh and their cousins the Fortescues of Buckland Filleigh were both descended from Martin Fortescue (d. 1472) of Filleigh and Wear Gifford, who married Elizabeth Densel, heiress of Filleigh, Wear Gifford and Buckland Filleigh. Faithful Fortescue was a descendant in the fifth generation of Sir
John Fortescue (c. 1394–1479),
Chief Justice of the King's Bench
Chief may refer to:
Title or rank
Military and law enforcement
* Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force
* Chief of police, the head of a police department
* Chief of the boa ...
, of
Ebrington Manor
Ebrington Manor is a grade II listed manor house in the parish of Ebrington in Gloucestershire, England. Since 1476 it has been a seat of the Fortescue family, since 1789 Earls Fortescue.
Location
It is located within the village of Ebri ...
,
Gloucestershire, a younger grandson of the Fortescue family of
Whympston
Whympston (anciently Wimpstone, Wymondston, Wimston, Wymston, etc), in the parish of Modbury in Devon, England, is a historic manor. In the 12th century, it became the earliest English seat of the prominent Norman family of Fortescue, influ ...
in the parish of
Modbury in Devon, the earliest Fortescue seat in the
British Isles.
Faithful was named after his uncle Sir Faithful Fortescue (c.1512-c.1608), whose 2nd son, also Faithful Fortescue, served with the army in Flanders and was a Lieutenant-Colonel in the royal army.
Career
In 1598 Fortescue's maternal uncle,
Sir Arthur Chichester
Arthur Chichester, 1st Baron Chichester (May 1563 – 19 February 1625; known between 1596 and 1613 as Sir Arthur Chichester), of Carrickfergus in Ireland, was an English administrator and soldier who served as Lord Deputy of Ireland from 160 ...
(1563–1625), later created
Baron Chichester of Belfast, went to Ireland in command of a regiment of infantry, and took with him Faithful Fortescue. In a brief memoir of his uncle (later published by the family's historian
Lord Clermont
Earl of Middleton was a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created 1 October 1656 for army officer John Middleton, together with the subsidiary title Lord Clermont and Fettercairn, also in the Peerage of Scotland. In 1674, he was succeed ...
(d.1887)), Faithful Fortescue wrote: ''"With the first Lord Chichester I had, from coming young from school, my education, and by him the foundation of my advancement and fortune I acquired in Ireland"''. In 1604 Sir Arthur Chichester was appointed
Lord Deputy of Ireland
The Lord Deputy was the representative of the monarch and head of the Irish executive (government), executive under English rule, during the Lordship of Ireland and then the Kingdom of Ireland. He deputised prior to 1523 for the Viceroy of Ireland ...
, an office which he held until 1616. This was the period of the
Plantation of Ulster
The Plantation of Ulster ( gle, Plandáil Uladh; Ulster-Scots: ''Plantin o Ulstèr'') was the organised colonisation (''plantation'') of Ulstera province of Irelandby people from Great Britain during the reign of King James I. Most of the sett ...
, and Fortescue acquired offices and lands in the north of Ireland. In 1606 he received a
patent for life of the post of Constable of
Carrickfergus Castle, otherwise known as Knockfergus Castle, one of the major fortified places in the north of Ireland.
A few years later he obtained a grant from the crown comprising an extensive range of territory in
County Antrim, which had formerly belonged to the Irish chieftain
Rory Oige MacQuillane
Rory is a given name of Gaelic origin. It is an anglicisation of the ga, Ruairí/''Ruaidhrí'' and gd, Ruairidh and is common to the Irish, Highland Scots and their diasporas. for the given name "Rory". The meaning of the name is "red king" ...
(Rory Og MacQuillan), which he erected into the "manor of Fortescue". A part of this land he sold in 1624; the remainder, together with the property of
Dromiskin in
County Louth
County Louth ( ; ga, An Lú) is a coastal county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. Louth is bordered by the counties of Meath to the south, Monaghan to the west, Armagh to the north and Down to the ...
, was handed down to his descendants. In the Irish parliament of 1613, there was
gerrymandering by the creation of borough and county franchises among the new English and Scottish settlements in Ulster. Fortescue was elected to this parliament as member for
Charlemont; in the subsequent parliaments of 1634 and 1639 he sat in turn as member for
Dungannon
Dungannon () is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the second-largest town in the county (after Omagh) and had a population of 14,340 at the 2011 Census. The Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough Council had its headquarters in the ...
and
County Armagh, while his eldest son Chichester succeeded him as representative for Charlemont.
In 1624 he obtained the command of a company in the army raised in England to serve in the Netherlands under
Count Mansfeld; but through the interest of Lord Chichester he was permitted to exchange into a regiment then being enlisted in
Cumberland
Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...
and other northern counties of England for service in Ireland.
Lord Wentworth, appointed Lord Deputy in July 1633, some months before his arrival in Ireland, commissioned Fortescue to raise a
troop of horse, of which he was to have the command. The commission brought with it heavy expenditure and a long series of personal differences with Wentworth (later 1st Earl of Strafford). His troubles began as soon as Wentworth landed in Ireland, when he immediately dismissed, without any pay, forty of the newly enrolled troopers, to make room for the gentlemen and servants he had brought with him; difficulties about payments followed, then refusals to promote Fortescue and his sons, then scandals about his lordship's visits to a 'noble lady,’ then a personal quarrel. The business ended in a letter from Lord Strafford, after he had left Ireland, during his imprisonment in the
Tower of London, ordering his steward to discharge Fortescue from the command of his troop.
Irish rebellion of 1641
In 1640 or 1641 Fortescue petitioned the House of Commons for promotion to the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the Irish establishment. On 27 January 1642 this petition came before the house; on that day a report was received from
John Pym, on behalf of the committee for Irish affairs, to the effect that the king had commanded the lord-lieutenant
Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester, to recommend seven officers to the house for commands in Ireland. The committee recommended Fortescue, the house 'being very well satisfied that he is a man of honour and experience and worthy of such an employment'.
Fortescue received the appointment of Governor of
Drogheda
Drogheda ( , ; , meaning "bridge at the ford") is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, north of Dublin. It is located on the Dublin–Belfast corridor on the east coast of Ireland, mostly in County Louth ...
during the summer of 1641. In October of that year, the
Irish Rebellion of 1641
The Irish Rebellion of 1641 ( ga, Éirí Amach 1641) was an uprising by Irish Catholics in the Kingdom of Ireland, who wanted an end to anti-Catholic discrimination, greater Irish self-governance, and to partially or fully reverse the plantatio ...
broke out in Ulster. The insurgents were able, without resistance, to seize
Newry,
Carrick
Carrick is an Anglicised version of ''creag/carraig'', Gaelic for "rock", and may refer to:
People
*Carrick (surname)
* Donnchadh, Earl of Carrick (died 1250), Scottish Mormaer and first Earl of Carrick
* Marjorie of Carrick (1256–1292), ...
,
Charlemont, and other places, and threatened Drogheda, the only fortified town between them and
Dublin. The town was not garrisoned, and the only troops Fortescue was able to obtain consisted of sixty-six horse and three companies of foot, raised hurriedly by his brother-in-law,
Charles Moore, 2nd Viscount Moore of Drogheda
Charles Moore, 2nd Viscount Moore of Drogheda (1603-1643) was an Irish aristocrat noted for his leadership of Irish Royalist forces in northern Leinster during the early stages of the Irish Confederate Wars.
Background
He was the third but elde ...
. Finding his body of men inadequate to the defence of the place, Fortescue threw up his commission and went to England for help.
Nicholas Bernard, who was in Drogheda during the siege, says of Fortescue on this occasion that, ''"though willing to hazard his life for us, yet he was loath to lose his reputation also"''. Fortescue left behind his eldest son, Chichester Fortescue, who was in command of a company in Lord Moore's regiment, and who died during the siege, and his second son, John Fortescue, who was killed by the rebels. Shortly after his departure
Sir Henry Tichborne was appointed by the lords justices governor of the place, and brought to its relief a force of a thousand-foot and a hundred horse.
The commissioners of parliament appointed to raise a force for the suppression of the Irish rebellion selected Fortescue in June 1642 for the command of the third troop of horse intended to serve under
Lord Wharton, as lord-general of Ireland. In addition to this body of cavalry, Fortescue also raised for service in Ireland a company of infantry, which was attached to the
Earl of Peterborough's regiment, and was then compelled to serve with the parliamentary army in England during the civil war.
In action in the First English Civil War
While waiting at
Bristol to cross to Ireland, Fortescue's troop was placed under the command of
Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex
Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex, KB, PC (; 11 January 1591 – 14 September 1646) was an English Parliamentarian and soldier during the first half of the 17th century. With the start of the Civil War in 1642, he became the first Captain ...
. It was marched to the Midlands to take part in the campaign on the side of the Parliament. Charles I issued a protest against the diversion, naming especially Fortescue and his troop of horse. On the eve of the
battle of Edgehill, Fortescue, who was acting as major in Lord Wharton's regiment of horse, tried negotiations with
Prince Rupert
Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Duke of Cumberland, (17 December 1619 (O.S.) / 27 December (N.S.) – 29 November 1682 (O.S.)) was an English army officer, admiral, scientist and colonial governor. He first came to prominence as a Royalist cavalr ...
, and promised to desert. On the next day, when Prince Rupert charged the left wing of the parliamentary army, Fortescue with his troop drew off from the rest of Lord Wharton's regiment and rode over to the royal horse. Many of Fortescue's troopers forgot to throw away orange scarfs worn as the Earl of Essex's colours, and eighteen out of the sixty men of the troop were killed or wounded by the cavalry whom they had joined.
Soon after the battle, Fortescue was appointed to the command of the 10th regiment of the royal infantry, and served with the army whose headquarters was at Oxford during the remainder of the civil war.
Later royalist service
In 1647 he accompanied the
Marquis of Ormonde during his Irish campaign, and remained with him until the retreat of the royal army from Dublin to Drogheda. He made his way to the
Isle of Man, and thence crossed to Wales. At
Beaumaris he was arrested and imprisoned by order of the House of Commons, first at
Denbigh Castle, and afterwards at
Carnarvon Castle.
He was able to join Charles II at
Stirling in the spring of 1651, and took part in the campaign which ended in the
battle of Worcester.
Later life
Fortescue went to the continent, where he remained, at first in France, and afterwards in the Netherlands, until the
English Restoration. By royal warrant of 21 August 1660 he was restored to the post of Constable of Carrickfergus Castle, an office which he was permitted to transfer a few months later to his eldest surviving son, Sir Thomas Fortescue, and was created a
Gentleman of the Privy Chamber. This office attached him to the royal court, and he lived mainly in London.
Death and burial
He sought refuge on the
Isle of Wight from the
Great Plague of London in 1665 and died there in the manor-house of Bowcombe, near
Carisbrooke, in May 1666, being more than eighty-five years of age, and was buried at Carisbrooke Church. No contemporary monument survives, although his descendant and the historian of the Fortescue family Lord Clermont erected a brass tablet on the wall on the north side of Carisbrooke Church inscribed as follows:
:''"In memory of Colonel Sir Faithful Fortescue, Knight, son of John Fortescue, Esquire, of Buckland-Filleigh in Devon, by Susannah, daughter of Sir John Chichester of Raleigh. He was a distinguished Royalist officer, and fought in several battles of the Great Civil War. At the Restoration he became a Gentleman of the Privy Chamber to King Charles II. Having left London to avoid the contagion of the plague, he retired to this island, and soon afterwards, being then of a great age, died at the manor of Bowcombe in this parish, and was buried within these precints on the 29th day of May, A.D. 1666. This tablet is placed here by his eldest male representative, Thomas (Fortescue) Lord Clermont, A.D. 1866"''
In addition in 1878 Lord Clermont and his younger brother Lord Carlingford erected in his memory a stained glass window in Buckland Filleigh Church in Devon, next to the manor house in which he was born, inscribed as follows:
:''"To the memory of Sir Faithful Fortescue, Knight, son of John Fortefcue, Esquire of Buckland-Filleigh, and of his wife Susannah Chichester of Raleigh, an officer distinguished in the great Civil War, who died at Carisbrook in the Isle of Wight, A.D. 1666, and was buried there, this window is dedicated by his lineal descendants Thomas Fortescue, Lord Clermont, and Chichester Fortescue, Lord Carlingford, A.D. 1878."
Marriage and progeny
Fortescue married twice:
*Firstly to Anne Moore (d.1634), a daughter of
Garret Moore, 1st Viscount Moore (ancestor of the
Marquis of Drogheda
Earl of Drogheda is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1661 for The 3rd Viscount Moore.
History
The Moore family descends from Sir Garrett Moore, a staunch friend of Hugh O'Neill, the Great Earl of Tyrone, whose submission ...
). She died on 5 September 1634 and was buried in St. Patrick's Cathedral. By her he had 16 children (5 of whom died young) ten sons and six daughters including:
**Chichester Fortescue (d.1641), of Donoughmore, County Down, eldest son and
heir apparent, who succeeded his father as Member of Parliament for Charlemont. He trained as a lawyer at the
Inner Temple and married Elizabeth Slingsby (d.1695), daughter of Sir William Slingsby, of Kippax in Yorkshire, who survived him and remarried to John Villiers, Viscount Purbeck, brother of George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham. By his first wife he had one child:
***Elizabeth Fortescue (d.1705), who married Sir Richard Graham of Norton Conyers, near Ripon, and was the ancestress of Sir Reginald Graham (fl.1869). Elizabeth Fortescue was buried in the parish church of Warth. Her portrait was at Norton Conyers until the removal of the pictures in 1864, upon the sale of the mansion and estate, but the arms of Graham impaling Fortescue were still visible in 1869 above the entrance door.
**He was a major in the army in Ireland and raised a company at his own expense in Lord Moore's regiment, and died in 1641 during the
Siege of Drogheda, his father having shortly before resigned as Governor of Drogheda, leaving his two sons in the garrison.
**John Fortescue (d.1642), 2nd son, killed by the rebels in Ireland in 1642, died unmarried.
**Sir Thomas Fortescue (c.1620-1710), 3rd and eldest surviving son and heir, who held a commission in the royal army during the civil war, succeeded his father in his estates, and was the ancestor of Lord Clermont, and of his brother,
Chichester Parkinson-Fortescue, 1st Baron Carlingford. He married twice, firstly to Sydney Kingsmill, daughter of Colonel William Kingsmill, son of Sir Francis Kingsmill, of Sidmonton, in Hampshire, by his wife Jane St. Leger, daughter of Sir Watham St. Leger, of Ulcombe in Kent. Secondly, he married Elizabeth Cary, a daughter of Sir Ferdinando Cary, grandson of the first Lord Hunsdon, by whom he had no issue. By his first wife he had two sons:
***Chichester Fortescue;
***William Fortescue;
**...... Fortescue, 4th son, killed in action in Ireland.
**Roger Fortescue;
**Garret Fortescue;
**William Fortescue.
**Lettice Fortescue, married to Sir Thomas Meredith, Knight;
**Eleanor Fortescue, married firstly to Thomas Burnet, slain in the service of King Charles I; secondly to Colonel Brent Moore, of the family of Beneden (or Moor Place) in Kent;
**Mary Fortescue;
**Elizabeth Fortescue;
**Alice Fortescue.
*Secondly no later than 1637, to Eleanor Whitechurch, a daughter of Sir Marmaduke Whitechurch, Knight, and widow of John Symonds, Esquire, by whom he had no issue.
Residences
He had the following residences:
*
Dromiskin in
County Louth
County Louth ( ; ga, An Lú) is a coastal county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. Louth is bordered by the counties of Meath to the south, Monaghan to the west, Armagh to the north and Down to the ...
, Ireland. It was mentioned in a contemporary narrative by Sir Edward Brereton dated 8 July 8, 1635: ''"About five miles hence (i.e. from Dundallce), we saw Sir Faithful Fortescue's house or castle wherein for most part he is resident, which he holds by a long lease upon a small rent, under my Lord Primate of Armath. This is a dainty, pleasant, healthful, and commodious seat"''. He later bought a considerable freehold estate around it, which his descendant
Lord Clermont
Earl of Middleton was a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created 1 October 1656 for army officer John Middleton, together with the subsidiary title Lord Clermont and Fettercairn, also in the Peerage of Scotland. In 1674, he was succeed ...
still owned in 1869, the castle and grounds having long since disappeared.
*
Galgorm Castle, near
Ballymena
Ballymena ( ; from ga, an Baile Meánach , meaning 'the middle townland') is a town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is part of the Borough of Mid and East Antrim.
The town is built on land given to the Adair family by King Charles I i ...
,
County Antrim. Fortescue built the castle, which still stands, in 1618. He sold it in about 1645 to the Scots-born clergyman Dr.
Alexander Colville, who made some additions to it. It is considered one of the finest examples of early Jacobean architecture in Ireland.
Literary works
*''An Account of the Rt. Honourable Arthur, first Lord Chichester, Lord Deputy of Ireland, by his Nephew, Sir Faithful Fortescue, Knight'', a short biography of his uncle
Arthur Chichester, 1st Baron Chichester of Belfast (1563–1625), of whom he stated ''"noe man knew his composition and dispofition better than myself"'', published in 1869 by his descendant
Thomas Fortescue, 1st Baron Clermont.
[ Clermont, Lord (Thomas Fortescue), ''History of the Family of Fortescue in all its Branches'', (first published 1869) 2nd edition London, 1880, pp.176-17]
/ref>
References
*
;Attribution
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fortescue, Faithful
1580s births
1666 deaths
English knights
Cavaliers
Faithful
Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Armagh constituencies
Irish MPs 1613–1615
Irish MPs 1634–1635
Irish MPs 1639–1649