AMERICA LOSES HER PEER.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9113, 19 December 1907, Page 2

AMERICA LOSES HER PEER.

LORD FAIRFAX NATURALISES. America is on the eve of losing her" one and only peer. She has hitherto "been able to olaim as a full-fledged citi- , zen of the United States a nobleman holding a title acknowledged by the House of Lords. But that honour ia about to pass from her, for Lord Fair-/ • fax of Cameron is taking out naturali- ■ sation papers in England, which." will , entitle him, should his Scottish breth- , ren wish it, to sit in the. Upper Cham- . ber at .Westminster, and will at least remove him for all time from the roll of American citizenship. Lord Fairfax ■ has been contemplating applying for . naturalisation in England for some ! time. A few weeks ago all the necessary papers were received at the Home Office. The particulars supplied have" \ been declared satisfactory, and the final certificate has been sent to Lord Fairfax for signature. On this certificate being returned, his name will be , officially gazetted as a British citizen. One of the most interesting romances of the peerage lies behind this change of nationality. Lord Fairfax! came to England for the first time on the occa- '■ sion of the King's Coronation, for which he received a special invitation. He wae then in a New York banking house, which he had entered a-s a clerk, and the American Press made much of his departure for London with his new set of Coronation robes. A young and pushful American with a , distinct accent, he carries his peerage dignities lightly in spite of being the ' eleventh in descent from that Sii* Tho--1 niae Fairfax Denton, who was knighted * before Rouen in 1594, and made Baron Fairfax of Cameron in 1627. Lord i Fairfax settled in an hotel here as Mr Fairfax, ahd was entertained a good deal by his brother peers. He has now been in practically continuous residence ' in England since that time, and is well known in stock exchange circles, being , now a partner in the firm of Bonbright and Co., American stockbrokers. The 1 news of his naturalisation in England will be received with some surprise in | New York, where his brother is a coffee broker* Not for four generations has there been an English Lord Fairfax. The settlement of the Fairfax family in i the United States dates back more tlian two centuries. The sixth Lord ' Fairfax, descendant of the great Fairfax who led Cromwell's forces to vjc- , toiy at Marston Moor, obtained one of . the largest inheritances which ever fell to one man. In' addition to large Eng- > lish estates, he received from his ,mo- . ther an immense tract of land in Vir-- , jania. estimated at 5.700,000. aores. i Visiting i his American possessions, he . was captivated by the beauties and cli- \ mate of Virginia, and decided to settle , there, handing his English estates to iUs brother. The magnificence of his , establishment and his remarkable hos- > pitality remain traditions in the Sputh- - epn States to-day. His English brother inherited the title, but it came back to h the American branch of the family W • 1793. The eighth, ninth, tenth and * eleventh barons were all American citizens, and took a keen interest in thp ■ affairs of tho State in which they Uyed. ; It was, indeed, from the Fairfaxiain- " ily's settlement in America that Thacki cray drew the inspiration for ms fa*m.- '■ one novel, "The Virginians." The present peer's father left Virginia fob* Maryland, and settled on Kis wife's es*- > iate, Largo, Northampton. The low- "> J roofed manor house is now the family s headquarters,.