FENWICK, Roger (c.1662-by 1701), of Stanton Hall, Long Horsley, Northumb.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1660-1690, ed. B.D. Henning, 1983
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

Family and Education

b. c.1662, 1st s. of William Fenwick (d.1675) of Irthington, Cumb. by Elizabeth, da. of Robert Ellison of Hebburn, co. Dur. educ. St. Edmund Hall, Oxf. matric. 25 June 1678, aged 16; G. Inn 1678, called 1686. m. 10 July 1692, Elizabeth, da. and h. of George Fenwick of Brinkburn, Northumb., 4s. (1 d.v.p.) 2da. suc. gdfa. 1689.

Offices Held

Commr. for assessment, Northumb. 1689-98, G. Inn 1690-4.

Biography

Fenwick came from a cadet branch of the family established at Stanton, four miles from Morpeth, early in the 16th century. His grandfather held local office from 1647 to the Restoration, and his uncle died of wounds after leading the charge of Lockhart’s regiment at the battle of the Dunes, perhaps the outstanding feat of the New Model Army in Flanders. Little is known of his father, except that he resided on a family property near Naworth Castle, the Cumberland seat of the earls of Carlisle. But his grandfather remained a Presbyterian, sheltering the covenanter Veitch at Stanton in 1677.

Fenwick, a barrister, was elected for Morpeth in 1689, where he was probably acceptable to the 2nd Earl of Carlisle (Edward Howard) as a former neighbour. His politics, however, were Tory, for he voted to agree with the Lords that the throne was not vacant. An active Member of the Convention, he was appointed to 46 committees, but made no recorded speeches. In the first session he was among those ordered to examine the prisoners of state in Newgate, to consider the new oaths of allegiance and supremacy, to repeal the Corporations Act, to consider the bill of rights and to inquire into the delay in relieving Londonderry. After the recess he was appointed to the committee of inquiry into the miscarriages of the war. He was re-elected in 1690, but died between 1698, when he was last named to the Northumberland assessment commission, and 1701. No later member of this branch entered Parliament.

Hodgson, Northumb. pt. 2, ii. 109, 113-14, Hist. Northumb. vii. 474; Thurloe, vii. 156.

Ref Volumes: 1660-1690

Author: Gillian Hampson

Notes