The Fermor, later Eversfield Baronetcy, of Welches in the County of Suffolk and of Sevenoak in the County of Kent, was a title in the Baronetage of Great Britain. It was created on 4 May 1725 for Henry Fermor, with remainder in default of male issue of his own to Charles Eversfield, of Denne Park, near Horsham

Horsham

Horsham is a market town with a population of 55,657 on the upper reaches of the River Arun in the centre of the Weald, West Sussex, in the historic County of Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester...

, West Sussex

West Sussex

West Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering onto East Sussex , Hampshire and Surrey. The county of Sussex has been divided into East and West since the 12th century, and obtained separate county councils in 1888, but it remained a single ceremonial county until 1974 and the coming...

. He was succeeded according to the special remainder by the aforementioned Charles Eversfield, the second Baronet. He was the son of Charles Eversfield, Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 for Horsham

Horsham (UK Parliament constituency)

Horsham is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- Boundaries :...

. The title became extinct on his death in 1784.

On the landing in Horsham Museum

Horsham Museum

Horsham Museum is a museum at Horsham, West Sussex, in South East England. It was founded in August 1893 by volunteers of the Free Christian Church and became part of Horsham District Council in 1974...

 hang works of art from the Museum's extensive painting collection, featuring a large eighteenth century portrait of Charles Eversfield and his wife of Denne Park House. In the painting Eversfield is giving his wife some violets which signifies fidelity, love and honesty. It is likely that the picture was cut down at some time as it was unusual to stop just below the knee. The picture remained at Denne House until the last of the Eversfields died out and the house was sold off for flats just after World War II. The picture was bought following a fund raising campaign in 1948. It may have been painted by more than one person: someone who specialised in clothing, another in drapes, and so on, with perhaps the great court painter Sir Godfrey Kneller painting the heads, for it was the portraits that gave the sitters their identity, everything else is rather formulaic. There is nothing in the background to identify it as Denne House, so the picture was probably painted in a London studio rather than the artist travelling to Horsham.

The Eversfield family made their money through the Wealden iron industry and had moved to Denne Park, on the outskirts of Horsham, in 1604, paying £5,500 for the old property and rebuilding the house which still stands today. While very wealthy, they don't seem to have involved themselves in town life until the early eighteenth century when Charles Eversfield decided to stand as MP for Horsham. Thanks to political corruption, then the standard practice, he became MP aged 21 in 1705, and remained as one of two MPs for the town for the next 36 years. The corruption gave the town its new market house, built out of Portland stone, in 1723.

Fermor, later Eversfield Baronets, of Welches and Sevenoak (1725)

• Sir Henry Fermor, 1st Baronet (d. 1734)
• Sir Charles Eversfield, 2nd Baronet (c. 1708-1784)