FAIRFAX PEERAGE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 13948, 2 January 1909, Page 2 (Supplement)

FAIRFAX PEERAGE.

CLAIM ESTABLISHED.

ECHO OF AMERICAN CIVIL WAR.

, tore Committee for Privileges of the House ( of Lords, by whom all peerage claims are I determined, speedily arrived at a conclusion. ; admitting the claim of Albert Kirby Fairfax to the title, honour, and dignity of Lord Fairfax of Cameron, in the peerage of Scotland. Each peer of Parliament is a member of the committee, and may attend and

vote, but yesterday the committee was composed of the Lord Chancellor, Lord AshI bourne, Lord Robertson, and Lord Collins, ! a lay peer, the Earl of Onslow presiding as ! chairman of committees.

i The Fairfax peerage dates from 1672, but the House of Lords having as recently as 1800 adjudged that the Rev. Bryan Fairfax had made good his claim to the title, the inquiry was limited to proving the descent : from him of the present claimant. As exi plained by Mr. G. Woods Wollaston, who . appeared "in support, of the claim, the FairJ fax family had settled in America, and the ' tenth Lord Fairfax, Charles Snowden Fair- . fax. following the example of his immediate predecessor, never used the title or allowed it to be publicely used. The tenth lord died "without issue, and of his brother, John Contee, the eleventh lord, the present claimant, who is now a naturalised Englishman, is the eldest son. The difficulty of tracing the pedigree arose from the wholesale destruction of records by the contending armies in the. American Civil War. TRACING THE TITLE. 1 Mr. Wollaston, opening the case, said this 1 peerage was a Scottish one, and as such car- •' ried with it no right to a seat in their lordi ships' house; but it was a peerage which '• had many interesting associations connecti ed with 'it, both in this country and in I America, and for those reasons the petitioner | thought it was due to his family to sub- | st annate his right before their lordships. j The peerage was granted to Sir Thomas Fairfax, of Denton, in Yorkshire, in 1627. . He died in 1640, and was succeeded by the second Lord Fairfax, who took part in the '■ early battles of the civil war. The third I Lord Fairfax was General-in-Chief of the ' Parliamentary Army, and afterwards an asi sistant of Monk in the Restoration of the ' Monarchy. Tracing the history of the . family, counsel said it was Bryan, the eighth Lord Fairfax, who was declared by a judgment of the House of Lords in 1800 to" have made out his claim to the title. Bryan lived in America, where, unfortunate- ! ly," records were very badly kept, and, i moreover, during the" civil war a large number of records were destroyed. Most of the , Fairfax family papers disappeared at that ! time, and in "these circumstances, it was ! necessary to produce secondary evidence. In every case, however, he should prove to their : lordships' satisfaction that the original do- ! cuments had been destroyed. Resuming his i statement as to the pedigree of the claimi ant, counsel pointed out that Bryan, who J died in 1802. was succeeded by his son 1 Thomas, ninth Lord Fairfax, who married i as his third wife, his first and second wives ; having died without issue, Margaret, daughter of William . Herbert. The first i and second wives died in each ! case within a month or two of the marriage, and there was no evidence, | except the reputation of the family, of these I marriages, and an entry on the fly-leaf of a i family Bible, the family record including : the entries: — i "Mrs. Mary Fairfax died on Saty., April 30, 1796, aged about 20, and in the ■sixth'month of her marriage, at Ashgrove." fir "Mrs. Louisa Fairfax died on Saty., • April : 28, 1798, aged 22, and hi the third month 'of • her marriage, at Fairfield." Unfortunately there was ; a page of the family record torn out of the Bible, and the existing pages commenced with the births of the grandchildren, and the marriage of Thomas and the birth of his children were not recorded. The deaths of some of his children were shown in the Bible, and there was no doubt that his eldest son, Albert, married. Caroline Eliza Snowden in 1828. This son died in the lifetime of his father (on • May 9, 1835)', leaving two sons, Charles Snowden, who became the tenth, and John Contee. who became the eleventh Lord Fairfax of Cameron. The latter, who died as recently as 1900, married in 1857, and the eldest" son, born in 1870, Arthur -iiirlw'-Fairfax, now claimed the title and dignity. The claim was not an upstart claim by an unknown claimant. The descent of his 'family, bad been watched as closely in this country as it had been in America, and it had "been the subject of comment in the press almost ad nauseum. Indeed, no doubt had ever been cast on the claimant's right to the title. V MONUMENTAL INSCRIPTIONS. Counsel then put in copy of the letters patent granting the peerage, and an extract from the journals of the House of Lords, ■.showing that the Rev. Bryan Fairfax had in 1800 made out his claim to the title._ He proceeded to submit propositions which he «ud would prove that the claimant was entitled to the peerage. He would have to .pfoTojthat Bryan, the eighth Lord Fairfax, married as his" first wife Elizabeth, daughter of-Wilson Cary, of Ceelys, Virginia, and to that end he put in a certificated copy of a monumental inscription at Ivy Hill cemetery, Alexandria, Virginia. Mr. John A. Barrett was then called, and, answering Mr. Wollaston, said he was one of the counsel employed by the American Embassy in London. He was a barrister of the Inner Temple, and had practised in New York for 18 years. He stated that it was only recently "that records of births, deaths, and marriages in America had been carefully kept. There were.no records kept in New York State until 1853. In the Southern States many of the records were missing, not only because they were carelessly kept-,, but because of the destruction of the courthouses, where any records were kept, during the war. He had gone carefully through the documents in regard to this claim i and in each case they were certified to be made by the proper officer, and would, according to the law of each of the respec- j tive States, be deemed to be prima-facie evidence of the facts certified. Witness further stated that in America up to 1900 they had the Scottish marriage law, and a man and woman living together by common repute were deemed legally married in the State of New York. Mr. Wilson Miles Carey, a cousin of the claimant, was next called. He stated that ho was born in 1838, and had always been on terms of close intimacy with the Fairfax family. He had been a barrister, and after he retired had taken a great interest in genealogy. He was on the staff of General Lee during the civil war, and the contending armies all through that campaign were in constant possession of the courthouses, and the troops committed great havoc with records during and after the war. SEARCHING FOR RECORDS. He had searched for the records of the Fairfax family, but without success. The Lord Chancellor Did you search for the record of the marriage of Thomas, ninth Lord Fairfax?

u i , Witness: I found none. I The Lord Chancellor: Did you find any i trace of the death of Bryan, eighth Lord ' Fairfax? Witness:' None whatever, except a newsI paper notice containing a statement of his j death at Mount Eaele, near Cameron. Mr. Wollaston: We have a certificate that there is no record prior to 1853. Counsel : then put in a certificate of the rector of ; Christ Church, Fairfax parish, Virginia, showing that during or subsequent to the . j civil war the records of the parish from -. 1 1765 to 1865 had been destroyed. I j Answering the Earl of Onslow, witness j ';; said all the four inscriptions which had been j j quoted were on the monument. The monuI ; ment was erected about the time of the war, 1 , in 1861, by a daughter of the ninth lord, , her father, Thomas, being the eldest eon of | \ Bryan. •' .; Counsel put in further documentary evi- *' dence to prove the death of Thomas Lord : Fairfax, in April, 1846, along with a certi- , fied copy of his will. The family Bible was produced to prove that Albert Fairfax was the eldest son of Thomas Lord Fairfax, who "writing to. his wife Margaret in 1802 said: * "I had the satisfaction, dear M., to receive from your mamma by last post a very ■;.> jileasinjj account of yourself and our little

pet, It has pleased our Heavenly Father to make vou the mother of an infant. . . < ■ Mrs. Nelson has taken up her lodgings in the straw since I came into the country with a little daughter, so that if Mr. Albert should break off his engagement with the amiable Miss C, he will have another chance here with a Shannandoah girl, which, as he is a fanner's eon, will perhaps suit better than a town connection." In October, 1803, Mrs. Herbert, the mother of Margaret. Lady Fairfax, wrote. " Bless and kiss mv darling Albert for me. In 1804 Lord Fairfax wrote to Ins wife. " Take good care of yourself and our two little pets, and remember that hard lodging is much bettor for Albert than a bed." "IIKAVK, GALLANT, AND GIFTED." Mr. Wollaston next put in a certificate of the marriage license of Albert Fairfax and Caroline Eliza Snowden, and documentary proof was submitted to show that the eldest son of Albert was Charles Snowden Fairfax. The title, counsel explained, afterwards fell to the second sou of Albert Fairfax, John Coulee Fairfax, who married Mary Brown Kirbv in October, 1857. John Contee Fairfax, the eleventh Lord Fairfax, died in 1900, leaving the present claimant as his eldest son. Miss Caroline Snowden, a Sister of Mercy, who was then called, said Caroline. Snowden was her aunt, and before she became Mrs. Sanders she knew she was the wife of Albert Fairfax, the eldest son of Thomas. The Lord Chancellor: You never heard of any son by a previous marriage? Witness: No. I am quite sure Albert was the eldest son. I knew all the family, which included several daughters. I also knew Charles Snowden, Lord Fairfax, and his wife, and they had no children. The Earl of Onslow: Have you anything to say, Mr. Attorney. The Attorney-General: 1 have no observations to offer." The only points which occurred to me for criticism have been cleared up. The Lord Advocate: The point on which there was any doubt in my mind was with regard to the decease of Charles Snowden Fairfax, the tenth Lord Fairfax, without issue. That point seems to be completely cleared up. The Lord Chancellor: I move that your lordships resolve that the petitioner has made out hi 6 claim to the title, dignity, and honour of Lord Fairfax of Cameron. The motion was put and agreed to, and the proceedings terminated. THK SUCCESSFUL CLAIMANT. The successful claimant, who is unmarried, is a member of the firm of Messrs. W. P. Bonbright and Co., City, merchants. He has residences in London and Northampton, and is a member of several West End clubs. Lord Fairfax acquired a business experience in a New York banking establishment, and subsequently joined a Wall-street firm. He first visited' England during the Coronation, and although he returned to the United States, his experience of England so attracted him that he soon announced his intention to' settle there and assert his claim to the ancient Scotch barony of which he is the heir.