Lord Fairfax and The Strange Odyssey of the Lost American Peers

Thomas 6th Lord Fairfax

Thomas Fairfax was created Lord Fairfax of Cameron in the Peerage of Scotland on 4 May 1627.  Another Thomas, the 6^th Lord Fairfax succeeded to the title in 1709, at which time he came into the family estates in Virginia, some 5 million acres.  The 6^th Lord Fairfax moved to Virginia to oversee the source of his wealth.  Fairfax was the only British peer to take up permanent residence in North America.

In 1748 Lord Fairfax employed the sixteen year old George Washington, a distant relative, to survey his lands in western Virginia.  During the American Revolution, Lord Fairfax remained loyal to the crown, but did not leave America.  His lands were confiscated, and the eighty eight year old peer died less than two months after Washington’s victory at Yorktown in 1781.

Lord Fairfax's title descended to his only surviving brother, Robert, who received cash compensation from the British Parliament for the loss of property during the Revolution.  The settlement was a small fraction of the value of the confiscated land.

Robert died in 1793.  An American cousin, Bryan Fairfax claimed and was granted the title.  Bryan Fairfax became the first American-born holder of a British peerage, although he did not actually use the title, choosing to become an Episcopal priest.

In 1802 Thomas Fairfax inherited the title 9th Lord Fairfax of Cameron after his father’s death.  He lived the life of a country squire overseeing his 40,000 acres. His grandson Charles succeeded to the title.  Charles’ brother, John, succeeded his childless brother, becoming the 11^th Lord Fairfax of Cameron. 

By the late 19^th century the family had largely forgotten about the title.  This all soon changed.  In 1900, Albert Kirby Fairfax succeeded his father.  In 1901, he was summoned to attend the funeral of Victoria, the Queen-Empress of the British Empire.  The Committee of Privileges of the House of Lords confirmed Albert Fairfax as the rightful 12^th Lord Fairfax of Cameron.  The newly recognized Lord Fairfax became a naturalized British subject on 17 November, 1908.  The family resettled in Britain after an interlude of some 150 years.

Nicholas John Albert Fairfax, is now the 14th Lord Fairfax of Cameron.

Love, Sex, and Marriage in ColonialAmerica 1607-1800

Secrets of Early America 1607-1816

These are the often overlooked stories of early America. Stories such as the roots of racism in America, famous murders that rocked the colonies, the scandalous doings of some of the most famous of the Founding Fathers, the first Emancipation Proclamation that got revoked, and stories of several notorious generals who have been swept under history’s rug.

Politicians Who Shot it Out

Andrew Jackson

Today’s partisan bickering seems mild compared to the political roiling of the early Republic, where policy differences could end up with bullets being exchanged in the early morning hours.

 John Randolph was a Virginia Congressman who was one of the primary spokesmen of a faction of the Democratic-Republican Party founded by Thomas Jefferson.  Randolph’s faction wanted to ensure social stability with minimal government interference, and decried “creeping nationalism”.  He once said, "I am an aristocrat. I love liberty, I hate equality."  In 1825 he entered the Senate.  In 1826 Randolph made a fiery speech in the Senate denouncing the foreign policy of President John Quincy Adams.  Specifically he was against the President sending a delegation to the Panamanian Congress of Latin American Republics.  Randolph railed against the President and the Secretary of State, Henry Clay, intimating that Clay was a scoundrel.  The Secretary of State took offense at this insinuation and challenged Senator Randolph to a duel.

Both Clay and Randolph had been involved in previous duels.  Clay fought a duel while a member of the Kentucky state legislature.  Randolph fought a duel while a student at the College of William and Mary and again in 1815 while in the House of Representatives.  By 1826 dueling was illegal in Virginia where the duel was to be fought, but a little matter of the law was not about to deter lawmakers Clay and Randolph from fighting.

Dueling politicians were not rare in the young republic.  Andrew Jackson fought over one hundred duels before becoming President.  In those days, if you called the President a liar you were likely to have to back up your words with a sword or a dueling pistol.  Dueling in America flowed down from the ancient practice of trial by combat developed in the Middle Ages.  A test of arms between two opponents was deemed the surest way of knowing which party God favored in a dispute. 

Secrets of Early America 1607-1816

These are the often overlooked stories of early America. Stories such as the roots of racism in America, famous murders that rocked the colonies, the scandalous doings of some of the most famous of the Founding Fathers, the first Emancipation Proclamation that got revoked, and stories of several notorious generals who have been swept under history’s rug.