Constituency Dates
Northumberland 1741 – 19 Dec. 1747
Family and Education
b. 24 Feb. 1698, 1st s. of Roger Fenwick, M.P., of Stanton by Elizabeth, da. and h. of George Fenwick of Brinkburn. educ. at home and St. John’s, Camb. 1716. m. 28 Jan. 1719, Margaret (bur. 10 June 1727), da. and coh. of William Fenwick of Bywell and sister of Isabella, w. of William Wrightson, 2s. 1da., (2) 5 Feb. 1730, Alice, da. of Thomas Errington of Beaufront, Northumb., 1da. suc. fa. 1701.
Offices Held

Sheriff, Northumb. 1727–8.

Address
Main residence: Stanton, Brinkburn and Bywell, Northumb.
biography text

Fenwick, whose family had often represented Northumberland, was described by Lord Tankerville, its lord lieutenant, as a Jacobite, who ‘ought not to represent the county’.1To Newcastle, 27 May 1747, Add. 32711, f. 124. He certainly had Jacobite connexions: William Fenwick of Bywell, father of his first wife, sheltered Thomas Forster; Thomas Errington, father of his second wife, was one of the rebel leaders and prisoners of the Fifteen.2R. Patten, Hist. Rebellion in 1715 (1745 ed.); Pol. State, x. 343, 543.

After standing unsuccessfully for Northumberland in 1734, he was returned unopposed in 1741 and 1747. He voted against the Government on the chairman of the elections committee in 1741 and the Hanoverians in 1744, but was absent from the divisions on them in 1742 and 1746. At the general election of 1747 he was ‘in such a bad state of health’ that he was not expected to ‘last 12 months’.3Ld. Tankerville to Newcastle, 14 June 1747, Add. 32711, f. 345. He died 19 Dec. 1747.

Author
E.C.
Volume
Commons 1715-1754
Notes
  • 1. To Newcastle, 27 May 1747, Add. 32711, f. 124.
  • 2. R. Patten, Hist. Rebellion in 1715 (1745 ed.); Pol. State, x. 343, 543.
  • 3. Ld. Tankerville to Newcastle, 14 June 1747, Add. 32711, f. 345.