The earliest proven recorded ancestor of the Fane family of Kent is "Henry a Vane" (d. 1456/57) of
Tonbridge, Kent, thrice-great-grandfather of Francis Fane, 1st Earl of Westmorland. According to The Complete Peerage "the long line of Welsh descent, as given in the
Heraldic Visitation of Kent 1574, is spurious".[8] His younger brother was
George Fane of Burston.
After Cobham's disgrace, Fane was elected as a Member of Parliament for
Maidstone in 1604. He was re-elected MP for Maidstone in 1614 and in 1621. In 1624, he was elected MP for
Peterborough,[7] Northamptonshire, near his wife's home at Apethorpe. On 29 December 1624, he was created
Baron Burghersh "in the County of Sussex", and
Earl of Westmorland (1008th on the roll). On his mother's death on 28 June 1626, he succeeded her as 4th
Baron le Despenser, and as de jure 8th and 6th
Baron Bergavenny.
Marriage and children
On 15 February 1598/99 Fane married
Mary Mildmay (died 9 April 1640), daughter and eventual sole heiress of Sir
Anthony Mildmay (d. 1617), of
Apethorpe Hall near the City of
Peterborough in Northamptonshire, British Ambassador to France, by his wife
Grace Sherington (1552–1620) a daughter and co-heiress of Sir Henry Sherington (alias Sharington) (c. 1518–1581) of
Lacock Abbey in Wiltshire. By Mary Mildmay he had seven sons (six of whom survived him) and six daughters:[12]
Westmorland was buried at Apethorpe on 17 April 1629. A monumental inscription survives in Mereworth Church near Badsell. He was survived by his wife Mary Mildmay, who died at Stevenage and was buried at Apethorpe, and many children.
^
abFrancis Fane, historyofparliament.online.org. Accessed 30 December 2022.
^Cokayne, G. E., Geoffrey H. White, ed. (1959).
The Complete Peerage, or a history of the House of Lords and all its members from the earliest times, volume XII part 2: Tracton to Zouche. 12.2 (2nd ed.). London: The St. Catherine Press, p.565, note (f)
Cokayne, George Edward; Gibbs, Vicary; Doubleday, Herbert Arthur; White, Geoffrey Henllan; Walden, Thomas Scott-Ellis, Lord Howard de (2000) [1910]. The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed. Gloucester: Alan Sutton Publishing.{{
cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link)
Collins, Arthur; Brydges, Egerton (1812). Collins's Peerage of England; Genealogical, Biographical, and Historical. Vol. 3. London: F. C. and J. Rivington, Otridge and son.
Gunnis, Rupert (1957). Eridge Castle and the Family of Nevill. Stanford Print.
Hasler, P. W., ed. (1981). The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558-1603. HMSO.
ISBN978-0118875011.