Sir John Fenwick, 1st Baronet

For the MP for Morpeth, Northumberland in the Long Parliament, see John Fenwick (MP for Morpeth).

Sir John Fenwick, 1st Baronet (c. 1570 – c. 1658) of Wallington and Fenwick, Northumberland, was an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1624 and 1648. He supported the Parliamentary cause in the Civil War.

Biography

Fenwick was the son of Sir William Fenwick, who had been Sheriff of Northumberland in 1578 and 1589, and his first wife Grace Forster daughter of Sir John Forster of Edderstone and Hexham. He was knighted at Royston on 18 January 1605 and succeeded his father in 1618 at the age of 35. Fenwick himself also served as Sheriff in 1619–20 and 1644–45.

In 1624 and again in 1625, 1626 and 1628 Fenwick was elected member of parliament for Northumberland. He was created 1st Baronet Fenwick of Fenwick, on 9 June 1628. He was a successful racehorse breeder and became a favourite of Charles I for whom he acted as Master of the Royal Stud at Tutbury and, from 1639, Surveyor of the Royal Race (or Stud).

In April 1640, Fenwick was again elected MP for Northumberland to the Short Parliament and was then elected MP for Cockermouth to the Long Parliament in 1641. He was then re-elected for Northumberland in 1642 after Henry Percy was excluded. Fenwick himself was temporarily disabled from sitting in January 1644 but was re-admitted to Parliament in June 1646.

Fenwick owned substantial estates in Northumberland and Durham but financial difficulties caused him to sell the greater part of his holdings in 1650 to Sir William Blackett for £20,000. He retained the family seat at Wallington Hall.

Family

He died in 1658 aged 79. He had married, firstly, Catherine Slingsby, daughter of Sir Henry Slingsby of Scriven, Yorkshire and Frances Vavasour, and had a son John and two daughters. He married, secondly, Grace Loraine, daughter of Thomas Loraine, and had further issue, including William. His third wife was named Bond.

His son and heir John was killed fighting on the Royalist side at the Battle of Marston Moor in 1644 and he was therefore succeeded by his second son William.

References

• Willis, Browne (1750). Notitia Parliamentaria, Part II: A Series or Lists of the Representatives in the several Parliaments held from the Reformation 1541, to the Restoration 1660 ... London. pp. 192, 202, 212, 223, 234, 247.
• Cokayne, George Edward, ed. (1902). Complete Baronetage 1625–1649. Vol. 2. Exeter: William Pollard and Co. pp. 39, 40.