Family and Education

b. bef. 1521, 1st s. of John Fane of Southborough by Joan, da. of Sir Edward Haute or Haulte of Petham. m. Elizabeth, da. of Henry White (d.1535) of Christchurch, Hants, wid. of Godsalve, 1s. Henry Fane II. suc. fa. ?1543.1

Offices Held

Biography

Fane had the ‘oversight of the ordnance’ in Henry VIII’s last war with France in 1545. On 7 Feb. 1554 he was drawn into Wyatt’s revolt after the rebels had reached London. Arrested the following day and sent to the Tower, he was sentenced to a traitor’s death by a special court presided over by the Marquess of Winchester. For some unknown reason (not his youth, for he was over 30), he was pardoned and released from prison on 24 Apr. In March 1555 he compounded with the Crown for his lands and reversionary interests, receiving them back on the terms by which he had previously held them. He was restored in blood in February 1565, in the second of his two Parliaments.

He was probably returned for Winchelsea through the patronage of the 10th Lord Cobham, who had also been involved in the Wyatt rebellion. Though Cobham was not appointed lord warden of the Cinque Ports until after the 1559 election, it is reasonable to suppose that he was already sufficiently influential to acquire a seat for a friend. In his will Fane referred to him as the person ‘I have, during all my life, honoured and loved above all men’ and ‘my especial good lord and ever assured friend’. That outside influences were at work in Winchelsea in 1559 is confirmed by the fact that the borough originally chose two local men, one of whom Fane subsequently replaced.

Fane retained his puritan religious views until his death. In the 1570s he signed a petition on behalf of a preacher, and in the preamble of his will he confessed himself

a most grievous and penitent sinner, trusting to be saved by the death and passion of my redeemer, Jesus Christ, of whom only I crave and faithfully hope to receive all forgiveness through His mercy and grace; and therefore yield and commit myself, both body and soul, into His omnipotent hands, both now and ever.

After arranging for the payment of his debts, and bequests to several relatives, Fane left the rest of his property to his son Henry, the executor, who was not quite of age. Thomas Fane the younger, a cousin, was to administer the property in the meantime. Care of young Henry’s education and upbringing until he was 22 was given to Lord Cobham. Fane died 11 June 1580 and his will was proved 4 Feb. 1582.2

Ref Volumes: 1558-1603

Author: J.E.M.

Notes

• 1. Genealogist, n.s. xiii. 85-6; Vis. Kent(Harl. Soc. xlii), 43; Collins, Peerage, iv. 500.
• 2. PCC 15 Spert; LP Hen. VIII, xx(2), pp. 294, 364; Machyn Diary (Cam. Soc. xlii), 54; EHR, xxxviii. 256; Chron Q. Jane and Q. Mary (Cam. Soc. xlviii), 71; APC, v. 13; CPR, 1553-4, p. 390; 1554-5, pp. 48-9; CJ, i. 66; A. Peel, Seconde Parte of a Register, i. 115; PCC 6 Rowe; C142/189/107.