the court, (no sentinel being in the way,) to the great wall of the castle, and thence let him down by a stick on a long cord. The signal given, his majesty put himself forward but then too late found himself mistaken, he sticking fast between his breast and shoulders, and not able to get forward or backward, but that at the instant before he endeavoured to get out, he mistrusted, and tied a piece of his cord to a bar of the window within, by means whereof he forced himself back. This attempt thus failing, Mr. Firebrace sent for files and aquafortis from London, to make the passages more easy, and to help in other designs which he proposed, but while they were thus concerting new plans for the escape, Hammond was directed from above to have a careful eye on those about the king which occasioned Mr. Firebrace, and others to be dis missed; and in Mr. Firebrace's absence, the other attempt, of which Lord Clarendon gives account, and confounds it with this, was as fruitlessly made." This Henry Firebrace, who afterwards received the ho nour of knighthood, was appointed by King CHARLES 11. chief clerk of the kitchen, clerk comptroller supernumerary of his majesty's household, and assistant to his majesty's officers of the green cloth. He m. first, Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Davell, of Stoke Golding, and had issue by her, HENRY, D.D. fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, BASIL, aged twenty-nine, 1682, of whom presently. George. Susanna, m. to Thomas Hall, esq. of Elymore Hall, Sir Henry m. secondly, Alice, daughter of Richard Bagnall, of Reading, and widow of John Bucknall, gent. of Creeke, in Northamptonshire, but by that lady left no issue. He d. 27th January, 1690, aged seventy-two, and was interred in Stoke Golding Church, in Leicestershire. His second son, 1. SIR BASIL FIREBRACE, was a merchant of the city of London, and having served the office of sheriff in 1687, received the honour of knighthood. He was created a BARONET by King WILLIAM III. 28th July, 1698. Sir Basil m. Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Hough, of London, merchant, and had issue, CHARLES, his successor, b. in 1679. George, b. in 1681. HESTER, b. in 1676, m. to Basil Fielding, fourth He d. 7th May, 1724, and was s. by his elder son, 11. SIR CHARLES FIREBRACE, bart. who m. Margaret, daughter and co-heir of Sir John Cordell, bart. of Long Melford, in Suffolk, and dying 2nd August, 1727, was s. by his only son, III. SIR CORDELL FIREBRACE, bart. M. P. for the county of Suffolk, temp. GEORGE II. who m. in October 1737, Bridget, relict of Edward Evers, esq. of Ipswich, and third daughter of Philip Bacon, esq. of the same place, (second son of Sir Nicholas Bacon, K.B. of Shrubland Hall, Suffolk,) but died without issue, 28th March, 1759, when the BARONETCY became EXTINCT, and the estates passed to the Earls of Denbigh. Sir Cordell's widow married for her third husband in 1762, William Campbell, esq. brother to John, third Duke of Argylle, and died in 1782. A branch of the Firebrace family settled in the West Indies. William Newton Firebrace, esq. a mem ber of the Hon. Court of Criminal and Civil Justice at Demerara. He d. in 1821, leaving three sons and one daughter, William, capt. 58th regiment; Samuel, LL.D. a judge at British Guiana; James; and Elizabeth-Ann. Arms Azure, on a bend, or, three crescents, sable, between two roses, argent, seeded, or, bearded, vert. JOHN FISHER, lord of the manor of Packington Magna, in that county, descended from an ancient family at Dottel, in Shropshire. He was gentleman pensioner to the Kings HENRY VIII. and EDWARD VI. and the Queens MARY and ELIZABETH, and in the fifth of the last, served the office of sheriff for Warwickshire, for which county he was in the commission of the peace from the beginning of MARY's reign, to the time of his decease, 13th of ELIZABETH. His wife was Katherine, daughter of Sir Thomas Digby, knt. of Olney, Bucks, and widow of Simon Wheeler of Kenilworth. By her he had two sons, Thomas the younger died in Ireland, unm. the elder, SIR CLEMENT FISHER, succeeded to his father's estate. Having been made treasurer by Robert, Earl of Leicester, for the expedition into the Netherlands in 1585, he subsequently received the honour of knighthood from King JAMES I. Sir Clement m. Mary, daughter of Francis Repington, esq. of Amington, in the county of Stafford, and had issue, ROBERT (Sir), his heir, who received the honour Lettice, m. to Sir Robert Throckmorton of Hase- Mary, m. to Sir Edward Littleton, of Pillaton Hall," in Staffordshire. Sir Clement d. in 1619, was buried at Packington, and s. by his son, 1. SIR ROBERT FISHER, knt. of Packington, in the county of Warwick, who was created a BARONET by King JAMES I. 7th December, 1622. He m. Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Anthony Teringham, knt. of Teringham Court, in the county of Northampton, and had issue, 1. CLEMENT, his heir. 11. Thomas, m. Dorothy, daughter of James Lacon, esq. of West Copies, in the county of Salop, and died before his elder brother, (he was buried at Packington in 1681,) having had issue, 1. CLEMENT, who s. his uncle as third BARO NET. 2. Thomas, d. an infant. 3. Francis, m. Mary, daughter of Sir Arthur Caley, of Newland, in Warwickshire, and relict of Sir Samuel Marrow, bart. but d. s. p. in 1701, and was buried at Packington. 4. Thomas, d. at sea, unm. 5. ROBERT, who s. as fourth baronet. 1. Lettice, m. first, to Sir Charles Lee, knt, and secondly, to the bishop of Worces ter. 2. Jane, m. to Thomas Byrch, esq. of Leacroft, in Staffordshire, son of Edward Byrch, serjeant-at-law. 3. Dorothy, m. to Griffin May, esq. a captain in the army. 4. Elizabeth, m. to John Jennens, second son of Humphry Jennens, esq. 5. Mary, m. to Edward Bedingfeld, esq. bro. ther of Sir Henry Bedingfeld, bart. 111. Francis, m. Margaret, daughter of Sir Edward Littleton, bart. of Pillaton Hall, and relict of Sir George Brown, knt. of Radford, in the county of Warwick, but d. s. p. 27th March, 1692. 1. Lettice, m. to Sir Richard Shilton, knt, of West Bromwich, in the county of Stafford. 11. Catherine, m. to Thomas Whitwick, son of John Whitwick, serjeant-at-law. He d. 29th March, 1647, was buried at Packington, and s. by his eldest son, II. SIR CLEMENT FISHER, bart. who m. Jane, daughter of John Lane, esq. of Bentley, in the county of Stafford, the lady so celebrated for assisting in the escape of CHARLES II. after the unfortunate battle of Worcester, for which eminent service she obtained, after the restoration, a pension of one thousand a year for life. Sir Clement and his father Sir Robert, were severe sufferers in person and property by their loyalty to the Stewarts. Sir Clement d. s. p. 15th April, 1683, and his distinguished wife 9th September, 1689; both were buried at Packington. He was s. by his nephew, III. SIR CLEMENT FISHER, bart. who m. Anne, daughter of Humphrey Jennens, esq. of the county of Warwick, and by that lady (who d. 17th January, 1707,) had an only daughter and heiress, MARY, m. to Heneage Finch, second Earl of Aylesford, and was grandmother of the present (fifth) Earl. She conveyed the manor of Packington to the family of her husband. Sir Clement was s. in the title by his only surviving brother, IV. SIR ROBERT FISHER, bart. who m. Anne, daugh ter of Jaques Wiseman, of London, gent. but died without issue about the year 1739, when the BARONETCY be'came EXTINCT. Arms-Argent, a chevron vaire between three demilions rampant, gules. *.* Packington, the seat of this family, now in the possession of the Earl of Aylesford, five miles from Coventry, and six from Coleshill, in Warwickshire, was erected from the foundation by Sir Clement Fisher, the third baronet, father of the Countess of Aylesford, and adorned with gardens, statues, canals, &c. Sarah daughter and co-heir of Sir Thomas Fowler, bart. of Islington, and had issue, THOMAS, his heir. John, died young. RICHARD, who succeeded as fourth baronet. URSULA, m. to Sir William Halton, bart. of Sam- Sir Thomas died 22nd May, 1636, and was s. by his eldest son, 11. SIR THOMAS FISHER, who m. Jane, daughter of Sir John Prescot, knt. of Hoxne, in Suffolk, and by her, who wedded, secondly, William Maynard, esq. second son of Lord Maynard, left at his decease in September, 1670, a son and successor, III. SIR THOMAS FISHER, who died unm. in April, 1671, aged eighteen, and was s. by his uncle, IV. SIR RICHARD FISHER, who m. first, Anne Legh, of St. John's Close, and secondly, Browne, eldest daughter of Sir William Ramsden, knt. of Longley, in Yorkshire, and relict of Sir George Dalston, knt. but as he died issueless, 7th October, 1707, the BARONETCY became EXTINCT. His sister and eventual heir, Ursula, conveyed the manor of Berners (inherited from the Fowlers,) to the HALTON family, and it continued in their possession until 1754, when it was devised by Sir William Halton, bart. (grandson of Ursula Fisher) to the family of TUFNELL. Arms-Or, three demi-lions ramp. and a chief indented gu. Ireland, who m. in 1539, Anne, daughter of Sir Peter Warburton, knt. of Arley, in Cheshire, and had issue, EDWARD (Sir), his heir. Alexander, settled in Ireland. On his son, WILLIAM, of Awne, in Ireland, Sir Edward Fitton, settled the estate as heir male. He m. Eva, daughter of Sir Edward Trevor, of Brynkynallt, and had two sons, viz. ALEXANDER, who was seized of the Gawsworth estate, which Charles, Lord Brandon, recovered from him in 1663 and 1664. This Alexander became eventually chancellor of Ireland, and was created Baron Fitton, Lord Gawsworth, by JAMES II. after his abdication. He m. the daughter of Thomas Jolly, esq. of Cofton, and had issue. Edward, supposed to have d. s. p. John, d. s. p. Richard, d. s. p. Margaret, m. to Sir Randle Mainwaring, knt. of Mary, m. to William Tatton, esq. of Withenshaw. Mary, maid of honour to Queen ELIZABETH, m. first to Captain Lougher, and secondly, to Captain Polwhele. Alice, m. to Sir John Newdigate, of Arbury, Warwickshire. Sir Edward died at Gawsworth, in 1606, and was s. by his son, 1. EDWARD FITTON, esq. of Gawsworth, born 3rd December, 1572, who was created a BARONET in 1617. He m. Anne, daughter and co-heir of James Barret, of South Wales, and had EDWARD, his heir. Penelope, m. to Sir Charles Gerrard, knt. of Hassal, in Lancashire, and had a son, CHARLES GERRARD, Lord Brandon, and Earl Alice, m. to Sir John Meyrick, of Monkton. Sir Edward d. 10th May, 1619, and was s. by his son, 11. SIR EDWARD FITTON, of Gawsworth, bapt. 1603, sheriff of Cheshire in 1633, who m. first, 1622, Jane, daughter of Sir John Trevor, knt. of Plas Teg, in Denbighshire, and secondly, Felicia, sister of Ralph Sneyd, esq. of Keel, which lady married secondly, Sir Charles Adderley, knt. Sir Edward Fitton, who was a distinguished officer in the royal service, died shortly after the taking of Bristol in 1643, without surviving issue, when the BARONETCY became EXTINCT. After the demise of Sir Edward, a violent dispute arose between Charles, Lord Brandon, and Alexander Fitton, esq. for the inheritance of the estates, and a very curious tract was published in 1663, giving a narrative of the proceedings that ensued. From that statement it appears that Sir Edward Fitton resolved, in 1641, to restore the ancient entail of the Gawsworth estate, and settled the same by indenture on William Fitton, his next male kinsman. The said settlement is said to be confirmed by deed poll dated 3rd April, 18 CHARLES 1. by Sir Edward Fitton. This narrative further asserts that when importuned by divers people, and also immediately before his death, he said he would rather settle his estate on Ned Fitton, the bonny beggar, (a man who kept beggars from his gate) than any one of his sisters' children. Nevertheless, a will was brought forward by Lord Gerard, nineteen years after Sir Edward Fitton's death, and after the most singular species of litigation, his lordship succeeded in obtaining possession of the property. From his son the second Earl of Macclesfield, Gawsworth passed to Lady Mohun, daughter and heiress of his sister, and coheiress, with Charlotte Mainwaring. Having subsequently vested, under Lord Mohun's will, in his second wife, Elizabeth Lawrence, it passed to Anne Griffiths, issue of the said Elizabeth by a first marriage, and was sold by the trustees of her marriage settlement to her husband, the Rt. Hon. William Stanhope, from whom it has descended to Charles, present Earl of Harrington. Arms Arg. on a bend az. three garbs or. This family, which had been seated many ages in Lancashire, removed into the county of Stafford in the beginning of the sixteenth century. JOHN FLEETWOOD, lord of the manor of PlumptonParva, in the county of Lancaster, was father of a daughter, Anne, the wife of John Ethalston, of Ribleston, and of a son and heir, HENRY FLEETWOOD, living in the 3rd HENRY VI. whose son and successor, EDWARD FLEETWOOD, living in the 13th EDWARD IV. m. Elizabeth, daughter of Roger Holland, esq. and was father of WILLIAM FLEETWOOD, esq. of Hesketh, in the county of Lancaster, who m. Helen, daughter of Robert Standish, esq. and had issue, 1. JOHN, his successor. 11. Thomas, of the Vache, in Bucks, held the office of master of the mint. He m. first, Barbara -, an heiress, and by her had Everard, M.P. who m. Joan Cheney, and left issue. Margaret, m. to Peter Dormer, esq. and Sir Fleetwood Dormer, knt. of Shipton Thomas Fleetwood married, secondly, Bridget, of Norwich (see BURKE'S Extinct Peerage). By this lady Sir George Fleetwood had a numerous issue.* William (Sir), of Cranford, in Middlesex, receiver of the Court of Wards. + James, bishop of Worcester. Edward. Michael. Henry, of Longby, Bucks. Edmund, ancestor of the Fleetwoods of Ros- III. Robert, was father of SIR WILLIAM FLEETWOOD, knt. an eminent lawyer of the Middle Temple, recorder of London, and serjeant-at-law in the time of ELIZABETH. "He was a learned man, and a good antiquary, but of a marvellous merry and pleasant conceit." He purchased an estate at Missenden, in Bucks, and dying in 1593, left two sons and two daughters, viz. 1. SIR WILLIAM FLEETWOOD, of Missenden, from whom descended the Fleetwoods of that place. Missen Of the seventh son, James, Anthony Wood gives the following details: JAMES FLEETWOOD, his seventh son, was admitted scholar of King's College, Cambridge, in 1622; afterwards he became chaplain to Dr. Wright, Bishop of Lichfield, by whom he was preferred to the vicarage of Prees, in Shropshire, and soon after collated to the prebendship of Eccleshall, belonging to the church of Lichfield, but before he was admitted or installed the Rebellion broke out. Afterwards, being forced for his loyalty to forsake his preferment, he betook himself to the wars, and became chaplain to the regiment of John, Earl of Rivers, and in the quality of a chaplain he continued to the end of the wars. In 1642 he was, by the king's special command, honoured with the degree of doctor of divinity for the service he did him at Edge Hill fight, and soon after was made chaplain to Charles, Prince of Wales, and rector of Sutton Colfield, in the county of Warwick. After the wars were ceased, and he ejected thence, he became tutor to three earls, viz. to the Earl of Lichfield, Earl of Kildare, and Earl of Stirling; afterwards, to two dukes, namely, to Esme, Duke of Richmond and Lenox, with whom he travelled into France (where he died), and to Charles, who succeeded him in the dukedom. After the restoration of King CHARLES II. he was the first that was sworn chaplain in ordinary to him, was made provost of King's College, Cambridge, in June, 1660, and about that time rector of Anstey, in Hertfordshire, and of Denham, in Bucks. In July, 1675, he was appointed Bishop of Worcester, and d. 17th July, 1683, aged eighty-one, and was buried in Worcester Cathedral, over whose grave is a marble monument, with the following epitaph of his own making: M. S. Epitaphium hoc vivus vidensque scripsi. Ego Ja. Fleetwood, S. T. P. Cathed. Wigorn. Episcopus nonagesimus, miserrimus Peccatorum. Hic jaceo qui dignissimus in æternum jacerem, sed Misericordia Domini gratiam consecutus sum, Quo mihi nobilitas fucata? Hoc glorior unum, Quod Christus de carne mea est. Proinde. Nemo ne lacrymis decoret, me vindice Christo Incolumen renovet patefacti fossa Sepulchri Mos Coeli tentabo vias, Christumque superne Viva Carne mea viventem in Carne videbo. Vixi. Dixi. Johannes Fleetwood, Archidiaconus Wigorniensis, Vilius predicti Præsulis natu minimus, Epigraphen hane pont curavit. In Memoriam Reverendi admodum Patris, qui vitam cum morte mutavit Julii 17, Atatis ama octagesimo primo Anno Consecratonie Byo salutis humana reparatæ, anno 1683. den was on the expiration of Sir William's male descendants, conveyed by heirs female, to the families of Ansell and Goostrey. After the decease of Thomas Goostrey, esq. it was purchased in 1787, by J. Oldham Oldham, esq. 2. SIR THOMAS FLEETWOOD, attorneygeneral to Prince HENRY, eldest son of JAMES I. 1. Cordelia Fleetwood, m. to Sir David Foulis, bart. of Ingleby, in the county of York.. 2. Elizabeth Fleetwood, m. to Sir Tho mas Chaloner, knt. tutor to Prince HENRY. IV. Edmund, a monk at Sion, in Middlesex. 1. Agnes, m. to John Jellibrand, esq. of Chorley, in Lancashire. 11. Janet, m. to John Blackledge, esq. of Leyland, in Lancashire. The eldest son and heir, JOHN FLEETWOOD, esq. of Penwortham, near Preston, in Lancashire, m. Jane, daughter and co-heir of Thomas Langton, esq. baron of Walton and lord of the fee and manor of Newton, and thus became pos sessed of that lordship: he had issue three sons and several daughters, and was s. by his eldest son, + Sir William Fleetwood, of Cranford, receiver of the Court of Wards, m. Joan, sister to the Lord Clifton, by whom he had three sons: Miles, the elder, was receiver of the Court of Wards, and George, the third, went out to Sweden, was a famous general there, and created a baron; he was father of Gustavus, Baron Fleetwood of Sweden. The second son, Sir William Fleetwood, cupbearer to JAMES I. and to Charles I. comptroller of Woodstock. He married two wives; by the first he had Sir Miles Fleetwood, knt. of Ardwinkle, in Northamptonshire. Colonel William Fleetwood. By the second, Miss Harvey, he had several other sons of whom the eldest, CHARLES FLEETWOOD, commonly called LORD FLEETWOOD, was general and commander-in-chief to RICHARD CROMWELL, the Protector, and m for his first wife, the widow of General Ireton, Oliver Cromwell's daughter, but had no issue. Fleetwood, Clarendon says, "was a weak man. but very popular with all the praying part of the army; a man, whom the parliament would have trusted, if they had not resolved to have no general, being as confident of his fidelity to them as any man's, and Lambert knew well he could govern him, as Cromwell had done Fairfax, and then in like manner lay him aside; and when any intelligence was brought of any murmur amongst the soldiers, by which a revolt might ensue, and he was desired to go amongst them, to confirm them, he would fall on his knees to prayers, and could hardly be prevailed on to go to them; and when he was amongst them, and in the middle of any discourse, he would invite them all to prayers, and put himself on his knees before them; and when some of his friends importuned him to ap pear more vigorous in the charge he had, without which they must all be destroyed, they could get no other answer from him, than God had spit on his face, and would not hear him: so that men ceased to wonder why Lambert had preferred him to the office of general, and had been content with the second command himself." General Fleetwood's daughter, Elizabeth, married Sir John Hartopp, M.P. and was ancester of the present Sir Edmund Cradock Hartopp, bart, of Freathby. 200 1. RICHARD, his heir. He m. 11. Thomas, m. first, Elizabeth, daughter of - - Coy. 11. Rowland, of Prestwood, in the county of Staf ford, who d. s. p. and left his estate to his nephew, Sir John Fleetwood. Iv. William, who m. Mrs. Pigot, widow of Pigot, esq. of Shropshire. 1. Anne, m. to Edward Tildesley, esq. of the Lodge, in the county of Lancaster. Sir Thomas was s. by his eldest son, III. SIR RICHARD FLEETWOOD, bart. whom. Anne, daughter of Sir Edward Golding, bart. of Colston Basset, in the county of Nottingham, and had three sons and five daughters, Thomas, who m. the daughter and heir of Christopher Bannister, esq. of Bank, in the county of Lancaster, and dying in the lifetime of his father, left an only daughter, Elizabeth who became the wife of THOMAS LEGH, esq. younger brother of Peter Legh, esq. of Lyme, in Cheshire. (See BURKE'S Commoners, vol. ii. p. 633.) Rowland, predeceased their father unm. Edward, f Sir Richard surviving his sons, was s. at his decease by his nephew, IV. SIR THOMAS FLEETWOOD, bart. This gentleman . Magdalen, daughter of Thomas Berrington, esq. of Mott Hall, in Salop, and dying without issue in December, 1739, was interred at New Church, in Cheshire, and s. by his half brother, V. SIR JOHN FLEETWOOD, bart. who m. Philippa, daughter of William Berrington, esq. of Shrewsbury, and dying in 1741, was s. by his son, VI. SIR THOMAS FLEETWOOD, bart. who died unm. in January, 1780, when the title is supposed to have become EXTINCT, although it was assumed by a Thomas Fleetwood, who d. s. p. in 1802. The estate of Cal HENRY FLETCHER, esq. of Cockermouth, son of William Fletcher, who had augmented the family estates by commercial pursuits, was a person of so much importance, as he entertained Mary Queen of Scots with great magnificence, in her journey from Workington to Carlisle in 1568, and presented her majesty with robes of velvet. He married, and had, with three daughters, seven sons, viz. I. WILLIAM, who purchased MORESBY, was ancestor of the FLETCHERS of that place, which branch became extinct in the eighteenth century, at the demise of Thomas Fletcher, esq. 11. Lancelot, from whom descended the FLETCHERS of Tallantire, who became extinct in the male line at the death of Henry Fletcher, esq. The manor of Tallantire was given by that gentleman to his daughter, Anne, who m. Matthias Partis, a merchant at Newcastle-upon-Tyne. In 1776 the estate was purchased of Henry Hopper, devisee of Fletcher Partis, esq. by William Browne, esq. |