of Catherlough. He was elected to parliament for Hythe in Kent in 1708, but at the next election (1710) was declared ‘not duly elected.’ In 1715, on the death of his brother, Mildmay, he was chosen knight of the shire of Kent. He was elected to parliament in 1726–7, and again in 1727, for Buckingham. He succeeded to the earldom of Westmorland in 1736. In the following year he was appointed lord-lieutenant of the county of Northampton, and warden of the east bailiwick in Rockingham Forest, but resigned his command of the horse guards. In 1742, having been declared brigadier-general, he was made major-general and lieutenant-general of the forces of the kingdom. Soon after his accession to the earldom he retired to his seat, Mereworth Castle in Kent, and gave himself up to the improvement of his property, rebuilding the castle after plans by Palladio (H. Walpole, Letters, Cunningham, iii. 303). In 1754 he was appointed lord high steward, and in 1759 chancellor, of the university of Oxford, his installation being conducted with unusual magnificence. He married Mary, only daughter and heiress of Lord Henry Cavendish, but died without issue 26 Aug. 1762, over the age of eighty.
He was succeeded as eighth earl by Thomas Fane, great-grandson of Sir Francis, and great-great-grandson of Francis, first earl [see under Fane, Sir Thomas]. The eighth earl died in 1771, and was succeeded as ninth earl by his son John Fane (1728–1774). He was born 5 May 1728, was educated at Westminster, became M.P. for Lyme Regis in 1762 and 1761. He married (1) in 1758 Augusta, daughter of Lord Montague Bertie (she died in 1776), and (2) in 1767 Lady Susan, daughter of Cosmo George Gordon, third duke of Gordon. He died 26 April 1774.
[Hasted's Kent, ii. 267; Collins's Peerage (1812), iii. 296; H. Walpole's Letters, Cunningham, index; Gent. Mag. xxxii. 391; Doyle's Official Baronage, iii. 641 (where date of baptism is given as March 1785); Nichols's Lit. Anecd. ix. 242.]
FANE, JOHN, tenth Earl of Westmorland (1759–1841), eldest son of John Fane, ninth earl, was born 1 June 1759, and educated at the Charterhouse and Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where Mr. Bennet, afterwards bishop of Cloyne, was his tutor; he proceeded M.A. in 1778. He succeeded to the earldom at the age of fifteen. While at Cambridge he formed a friendship with William Pitt, which continued through life. In October 1789 he accepted the office of joint postmaster-general, and was sworn a member of the privy council. In the following January he was appointed lord-lieutenant of Ireland, which office he held till January 1795. He was opposed to the emancipation of the catholics, and was recalled in consequence of the determination of Pitt to grant in some measure the catholic demands; but was at once offered the post of master of the horse, which he retained till 1798, when he became lord privy seal. He remained in this office for nearly thirty years, except for a few months in 1806–7, when a whig ministry was in power, and finally resigned it in 1827, when the Earl of Liverpool's administration came to an end. He was appointed knight of the Garter in 1793. He filled the post of recorder of Lyme Regis and of lord-lieutenant of Northamptonshire from the year 1828. For many years before his death he retired from politics, and during the last year or two of his life was quite blind. He died in his eighty-third year on 15 Dec. 1841 (Raikes, Diary, under 16 Dec. 1841). The earl was twice married. His first wife was Sarah Anne, only daughter and heiress of Robert Child, the London banker. He eloped with Miss Child in May 1782, and succeeded in reaching Scotland, where the marriage took place. The bulk of Mr. Child's property was left to the eldest daughter by this marriage, Lady Sarah Sophia Fane, who married the Earl of Jersey. Lady Westmorland died on 9 Nov. 1793, having borne six children, and in 1800 the earl married his second wife, Jane, daughter and coheiress of Richard Huck Saunders, M.D. By her, who died 26 March 1857, he had three sons and one daughter. His second wife and six of his children survived him. His portrait was painted by Lawrence in 1807.
[Gent. Mag. new ser. xvii. 207; Public Characters of 1803–4, p. 413 (signed T. L. H.); Times, 17 Dec. 1841, p. 5; Stanhope's Life of Pitt, 1862, ii. 42, 276, 292, 383; Doyle's Official Baronage, iii. 644.]
FANE, JOHN, eleventh Earl of Westmorland (1784–1859), only son of John Fane, tenth earl of Westmorland [q. v.], was born at 4 Sackville Street, Piccadilly, London, 3 Feb. 1784, and known as Lord Burghersh from that time until 15 Dec. 1841, when he succeeded his father as Earl of Westmorland. He was educated at Harrow, and at Trinity College, Cambridge (M.A. in 1808). He was elected M.P. for Lyme Regis 18 March 1806, and sat until March 1816, when he retired. He again contested the constituency unsuccessfully in 1832 as a tory. On 30 June 1803 he became a lieutenant in the Northamptonshire regiment of militia, but soon joined the 11th foot as an ensign, serving subsequently in the 7th foot, the 23rd foot, the 3rd dragoons, the 91st foot, and the 63rd foot. In 1805 he was
