Thomas, Baron Cameron, sixth Lord Fairfax, was George Washington's mentor, neighbor, employer, and friend. The relationship between the two began when Washington was a young adult, and spanned to the end of the baron's life in December of 1781. As the only English titled nobleman to permanently reside in the American colonies, Fairfax was prominent and assisted Washington as he rose to recognition in Virginia politics.
Thomas Fairfax was the eldest son and heir of the fifth Lord Fairfax and his wife Catherine, granddaughter of John Culpeper, Charles I's Chancellor of the Exchequer. Fairfax was born at Leeds Castle in Kent on October 22, 1693. In 1719, Fairfax inherited this estate, other lands in England, and a proprietary grant of land in Virginia between the headwaters of the Rappahannock and the Potomac known as the “Northern Neck.” In 1664 and 1681 King Charles II had granted the Northern Neck to Fairfax's maternal grandfather, Lord Culpeper.
After a brief stint at Oriel College, Oxford, an officer's commission in the British army, and a youth spent largely partying in London and hunting in the countryside, Fairfax was convinced by his mother's insistence that he sell much of the Fairfax estates in England to liquidate his father’s debts. However, Fairfax refused to part with the Northern Neck. In 1664 and 1681 King Charles II had granted the Northern Neck to Fairfax's maternal grandfather, Lord Culpeper.
Fairfax first visited his Virginia lands in 1735, and was immediately attracted to the view of the Blue Ridge. Fairfax returned to Britain to establish legally where the "headwaters" of the Rappahannock and the Potomac were located. The Privy Council in 1745 secured the northern Shenandoah Valley to Fairfax, as well as other lands that are now part of West Virginia. Fairfax returned permanently to Virginia in 1747. He built an estate known as Greenway Court in what is now Clarke County, and in 1748 hired, among others, the sixteen-year old Washington to survey the Northern Neck.
The next decade was a formative time in Washington's life. He was a frequent visitor to Greenway Court, befriended George William Fairfax, the son of the Lord's cousin and agent, William Fairfax. While visiting, he became familiar with the northern Shenandoah Valley, living in Winchester and receiving a commission in and command of the Virginia Regiment. Washington's friendship with and sponsorship by Lord Fairfax was instrumental in the young man's rise to political and social prominence. The two frequently went foxhunting at Belvoir on the Potomac. Fairfax supported Washington's successful bid for election to the House of Burgesses in 1758, writing that "I fear Coll. Washington will be very hard pushed," in the three-way race.1 The Lord also tried unsuccessfully to get Washington a seat on the Governor's Council in the early 1770s.
However, the political interests of Fairfax and Washington diverged on the eve of the American Revolution. Fairfax remained aligned with Britain, likely a Loyalist for personal, ideological, and monetary reasons. He managed to avoid the expropriation of his lands by the Patriot Virginia government, most likely due to Washington’s protection.
By the time the Americans achieved independence, the baron was in his eighties, and he was careful to express no open opposition to the Revolution or its leader. Washington kept up to date on the baron's activities, writing from Valley Forge in March 1778 that "Lord Fairfax (as I have been told) after having bowed down to the grave, & in an manner shaken hands with death, is perfectly restored, & enjoys his usual good health, and as much vigour as falls to the lot of Ninety."2
In December 1778, Washington wrote to Fairfax from camp in Middlebrook, New Jersey to complain of the encroachment onto his Fairfax County lands of a neighbor, Thomasin Ellzey. Washington explained, "I am perswaded that I need do nothing more than to bring your Lordship acquainted with these facts. . . . I neither hold, nor claim lands that have not been paid for . . . to your Lordship by quit rent. . . . I repose too much confidence in your known justice to harbor a moment's doubt."3 It is likely Fairfax assisted Washington, and the matter was resolved soon after.
The baron of the Northern Neck died on December 7, 1781 at Greenway Court. Present-day Fairfax County, Virginia is named so due to his land claims there. He did not marry or have children, but lived to see American independence, which was made possible by his young protégé, George Washington.4
Curtis F. Morgan Jr., Ph.D. Lord Fairfax Community College
Notes:
1. "Thomas, Lord Fairfax to George William Fairfax, July 5, 1758," Edward D. Neill, The Fairfaxes of England and America in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries: including letters from and to Hon. William Fairfax, president of Council of Virginia, and his sons Col. George William Fairfax and Rev. Bryan, eighth Lord Fairfax, the neighbors and friends of George Washington. (Albany, NY: Joel Munsell, 1868), 98.
2. "George Washington to George William Fairfax, 11 March 1778," The Writings of George Washington, Vol. 11, ed. John C. Fitzpatrick (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office).
3. “From George Washington to Thomas, Lord Fairfax, 17 December 1778,” Founders Online, National Archives.
4. "His Lordship died December the 7th." "Bryan Martin (nephew and heir) to Brian Fairfax, December 1781," quoted in "My Lord Fairfax, of Virginia", Scribner's Magazine (1879), 716.
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