John Fairfax (minister)
Encyclopedia
Life
Fairfax was the second son of Benjamin Fairfax (1592–1675), ejected from Rumburgh, Suffolk, who married Sarah, daughter of Roger and Joane Galliard, of Ashwellthorpe, NorfolkNorfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
, was born in 1623. Theophilus Brabourne
Theophilus Brabourne
Theophilus Brabourne , was a writer on the Sabbath question.Brabourne was a native of Norwich. The date of his birth is fixed by his own statement in 1654: 'I am 64 yeares of age'. His father was a puritan hosier, who educated his son at the free school of Norwich till he was fifteen years of age,...
, the sabbatarian, was his uncle by marriage. The Suffolk Fairfaxes are a branch of the ancient Fairfax family of Walton and Gilling, Yorkshire.
Early religious views and education
Fairfax dated his religious impressions from an incident which occurred in his eleventh year: ‘the (supposed) sudden death of his sister in the cradle.’ He was admitted at Corpus Christi College, CambridgeCorpus Christi College, Cambridge
Corpus Christi College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It is notable as the only college founded by Cambridge townspeople: it was established in 1352 by the Guilds of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary...
, in 1640. After graduating B.A. he was appointed a Fellow by the Earl of Manchester
Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Manchester
Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Manchester KG, KB, FRS was an important commander of Parliamentary forces in the First English Civil War, and for a time Oliver Cromwell's superior.-Life:...
on 10 January 1645 (admitted 14 January) in the place of Thomas Briggs
Thomas Briggs
Thomas Briggs was the third head college football coachfor the Eastern Illinois University Panthers located in Charleston, Illinois,and he held that position for the 1903 season.His career coaching record at Eastern Illinois was 1 wins, 3 losses, and 0 ties...
, ejected. He had qualified by subscribing the covenant
Solemn League and Covenant
The Solemn League and Covenant was an agreement between the Scottish Covenanters and the leaders of the English Parliamentarians. It was agreed to in 1643, during the First English Civil War....
, and undergoing an examination by the Westminster Assembly
Westminster Assembly
The Westminster Assembly of Divines was appointed by the Long Parliament to restructure the Church of England. It also included representatives of religious leaders from Scotland...
. He graduated M.A. in 1647.
From his fellowship he was ejected in 1650 or 1651, on refusing to take the engagement
Engagement controversy
The Engagement Controversy was a debate in England from 1649-1652 regarding loyalty to the new regime after the execution of Charles I. During this period hundreds of pamphlets were published in England supporting 'engagement' to the new regime or denying the right of English citizens to shift...
of 1649, promising fidelity to the Commonwealth
Commonwealth
Commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has sometimes been synonymous with "republic."More recently it has been used for fraternal associations of some sovereign nations...
, ‘without a king or house of lords.’
As churchman and trouble with the law
He then obtained the rectory of Barking-cum-Needham, Suffolk, and held it until the 1662 Act of Uniformity. Fairfax continued to reside in his own house at BarkingBarking
Barking is a suburban town in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, in East London, England. A retail and commercial centre situated in the west of the borough, it lies east of Charing Cross. Barking was in the historic county of Essex until it was absorbed by Greater London. The area is...
, and used all opportunities of preaching. He was supported by Dame Brook (died 22 July 1683, aged 82), widow of Sir Robert Brook of Cockfield Hall
Cockfield Hall
Cockfield Hall in Yoxford in Suffolk is a Grade I listed private house standing in of historic parkland, dating from the 16th century. It was built by the Spring family, wealthy cloth merchants and later baronets of Pakenham....
, near Yoxford, Suffolk, who patronised nonconformists. He was also aided by his neighbour, John Meadows, an ejected minister of good property, who later married his niece.
Fairfax's preaching got him more than once into prison. On Tuesday, 5 July 1670, Fairfax and other ministers attended the parish church of Walsham-in-the-Willows, Suffolk. After the liturgy was read by the minister of the parish, a sermon was preached by a non-licensed minister Stephen Scandaret. During this sermon Fairfax and five other ministers were arrested, and committed to the county gaol at Bury St. Edmunds
Bury St. Edmunds
Bury St Edmunds is a market town in the county of Suffolk, England, and formerly the county town of West Suffolk. It is the main town in the borough of St Edmundsbury and known for the ruined abbey near the town centre...
. At the quarter sessions they were bailed to appear at the next assize. The judge before whom they appeared was Sir Richard Raynsford
Richard Raynsford
Richard Raynsford SL was an English judge and Chief Justice of the King's Bench.-Career:The second son of Robert Raynsford of Staverton, Northamptonshire, by his first wife, Mary, daughter of Thomas Kirton of Thorpe Mandeville in the same county, he was born in 1605. He matriculated at Exeter...
, noted for his severity to nonconformists. The grand jury
Grand jury
A grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether a criminal indictment will issue. Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing...
found a true bill against one of them (Simpson); others, including Fairfax, on ‘a general suggestion’ of the justices who had committed them, that they were persons dangerous to the public peace, were sent to prison by Raynsford until they should find sureties for their good behaviour. After five months in Bury gaol, they applied to the Court of Common Pleas
Court of Common Pleas (England)
The Court of Common Pleas, or Common Bench, was a common law court in the English legal system that covered "common pleas"; actions between subject and subject, which did not concern the king. Created in the late 12th to early 13th century after splitting from the Exchequer of Pleas, the Common...
for a writ of habeas corpus
Habeas corpus
is a writ, or legal action, through which a prisoner can be released from unlawful detention. The remedy can be sought by the prisoner or by another person coming to his aid. Habeas corpus originated in the English legal system, but it is now available in many nations...
, which the judges were of opinion they could not grant, and advised a petition to the king. On 18 March 1671 Fairfax was still in prison. His sister Priscilla (d. 1708), who was in the service of Reynolds
Edward Reynolds
Edward Reynolds was a bishop of Norwich in the Church of England and an author.He was born in Holyrood parish Southampton, the son of Augustine Reynolds, one of the customers of the city, and his wife, Bridget....
, bishop of Norwich
Bishop of Norwich
The Bishop of Norwich is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Norwich in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers most of the County of Norfolk and part of Suffolk. The see is in the City of Norwich where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided...
, urged him to conform. He probably obtained his release at the following assize; and on the issue of the king's indulgence (15 March 1672) he took out a license as a presbyterian teacher at the house of Margaret Rozer, Needham Market
Needham Market
Needham Market is a town in Suffolk, England. It initially grew around the wool combing industry, until the onset of the plague, which swept the town from 1663 to 1665. To prevent the spread of the disease, the town was chained at either end, which succeeded in its task but at the cost of...
.
As nonconformist preacher
Fairfax entered on a renewed career, active in preaching and the formation of nonconformist congregations. He aided the settlement of young ministers, as the ejected died out. On the death of Owen Stockton (10 September 1680), he took the charge of the nonconformist congregation in IpswichIpswich
Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...
, in addition to his own. The independent section formed a separate congregation in 1686; on the issue of James II's ‘declaration for liberty of conscience’ next year (4 April), the Presbyterians under Fairfax hired a building for public worship in St. Nicholas parish. Timothy Wright became his assistant at Ipswich in 1698. On 26 April 1700 Fairfax opened the existing meeting-house in St. Nicholas Street (now Unitarian
General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches
The General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches is the umbrella organisation for Unitarian, Free Christian and other liberal religious congregations in the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1928, with denominational roots going back to the Great Ejection of 1662...
).
He died at Barking on 11 Aug. 1700. The funeral sermon was preached on 15 August in the parish church by Samuel Bury
Samuel Bury
-Life:The son of Edward Bury, he was born at Great Bolas, Shropshire, where he was baptised on 21 April 1663. He was educated at Thomas Doolittle's academy, at that time in Islington. Here he was contemporary with Matthew Henry, who entered in 1680, and made friends with Bury...
. Fairfax was succeeded at Needham by his grandnephew, John Meadows, who in his later years was assisted by Joseph Priestley
Joseph Priestley
Joseph Priestley, FRS was an 18th-century English theologian, Dissenting clergyman, natural philosopher, chemist, educator, and political theorist who published over 150 works...
; and at Ipswich
Ipswich
Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...
by Wright, who died in November 1701, aged 42.
Marriage
Fairfax married Elizabeth, daughter of William Cowper of Mosborough, Derbyshire. From his eldest son, Nathaniel (1661–1722), are descended the Kebles of Creeting, Suffolk, who possessed an original painting of John Fairfax; a duplicate is in the possession of the Harwoods of Battisford, descended from his daughter Elizabeth (born 1668), who married Samuel Studd of Coddenham, Suffolk; his other children were Thomas (?) and William.Works
- The Dead Saint Speaking, &c., 1679, (this is a sermon preached at Dedham, Essex, on 16 Sept. 1668, in memory of Matthew NewcomenMatthew NewcomenMatthew Newcomen was an English nonconformist churchman.His exact date of birth is unknown. He was educated at St John's College, Cambridge . In 1636 he became lecturer at Dedham in Essex, and led the church reform party in that county. He assisted Edmund Calamy the Elder in writing Smectymnuus ,...
; it was reported to Gilbert SheldonGilbert SheldonGilbert Sheldon was an English Archbishop of Canterbury.-Early life:He was born in Stanton, Staffordshire in the parish of Ellastone, on 19 July 1598, the youngest son of Roger Sheldon; his father worked for Gilbert Talbot, 7th Earl of Shrewsbury. He was educated at Trinity College, Oxford; he...
as containing ‘dangerous words’ at an ‘outrageous conventicle;’ the publication, which bears Fairfax's initials, was made against his consent by John CollingesJohn CollingesJohn Collinges was an English presbyterian theologian, participant in the Savoy Conference, ejected minister, and prolific writer.-Life:...
, D.D.) - Πρεσβύτερς διπλῆς τιμῆς ἄξιος … life of … O. Stockton … funeral sermon, &c., 1681, (dedicated to the Lady Brook; the sermon has separate title-page, ‘Mors Triumphata,’ &c.). Of the life there is an abridged reprint in Christian Biography, 1826.
- Primitiæ Synagogæ, &c., 1700, (sermon on opening the Ipswich meeting-house; dedicated to Sir Thomas Cuddon, chamberlain of the city of London).
Fairfax's funeral sermon (1673) for Samuel Spring, ejected from St. Mary's, Creeting
Creeting St Mary
Creeting St Mary is a village and civil parish in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England. Sandwiched between the A14 and A140 to the north of Needham Market, the parish also includes the hamlet of Creeting Bottoms. In 2005 its population was 710. The buck of a windmill survives in...
, is quoted by Calamy
Edmund Calamy (historian)
Edmund Calamy was an English Nonconformist churchman, divine and historian.-Life:A grandson of Edmund Calamy the Elder, he was born in the City of London, in the parish of St Mary Aldermanbury. He was sent to various schools, including Merchant Taylors', and in 1688 proceeded to the university of...
, but does not seem to have been published.