Mildmay Fane, 2nd Earl of Westmorland

• Honorific Prefix — The Right Honourable • Name — The Earl of Westmorland • Office — Member of Parliament for Peterborough • Term Start — 1621 • Term End — 1624 • Alongside — Walter FitzWilliam • Monarch — James I • Predecessor — Edward Wymarke Sir William Walter • Successor — Sir Francis Fane Laurence Whitaker • Term Start2 — 1626 • Term End2 — 1629 • Alongside2 — Laurence Whitaker • Monarch2 — Charles I • Predecessor2 — Laurence Whitaker Sir Christopher Hatton • Successor2 — None (parliament suspended until 1640) • Office3 — Member of Parliament for Kent • Term Start3 — 1625 • Term End3 — 1625 • Alongside3 — Sir Albert Moreton • Monarch3 — Charles I • Predecessor3 — Sir Nicholas Tufton Sir Edwin Sandys • Successor3 — Sir Edward Hales Sir Edward Scot • Office4 — Lord Lieutenant of Northamptonshire • Term Start4 — 1660 • Term End4 — 1666 • Alongside4 — The Earl of Exeter • Monarch4 — Charles II • Predecessor4 — None (English Interregnum) • Successor4 — The Earl of Exeter The Earl of Peterborough • Birth Name — Mildmay Fane • Born — 24 January 1602 • Birthplace — Mereworth, Kent, England • Died — 12 February 1666 • Alma Mater — Emmanuel College, Cambridge • Spouse — Grace Thornhurst (1620–36) Mary Vere (1638–66) • Children — With Grace Thornhurst Charles Fane, 3rd Earl of Westmorland With Mary Vere Lady Mary Fane Vere Fane, 4th Earl of Westmorland Rachael Fane Catherine Fane Susan Fane Elizabeth Fane • Parents — Francis Fane, 1st Earl of Westmorland Mary Mildmay • Occupation — Politician, writer • Awards — Knight of the Bath

One of seven sons of Francis Fane by his wife Mary Mildmay, granddaughter of Sir Walter Mildmay, Mildmay Fane was born in Kent and educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge (matriculated 1618). He became MP for Peterborough in 1620 and for Kent in 1625. He succeeded his father as Earl of Westmorland and Lord le Despenser on 23 March 1629. A friend of Robert Herrick, he supported the Royalist party at the outbreak of the English Civil War (King Charles I had stood as godfather to Fane's eldest son in 1635). Following a brief period of imprisonment by Parliament, however, he retired to his estate at Apethorpe Hall in Northamptonshire.

• Illustration — A portrait in oils of Mildmay Fane, wearing the sash of the Order of the Bath One hundred and thirty-seven poems by Fane appeared in his self-published collection Otia Sacra in 1648—the first time a peer of England published his own verse. It was only at the end of the twentieth century that a larger body of Fane's verse was identified: some 500 poems by Fane, composed between 1621 and 1665, were published in 2001. The poems survived in manuscript collections preserved at Fulbeck Hall in Lincolnshire, Houghton Library at Harvard University, and the Westmorland papers preserved at the Northamptonshire Record Office. Fane also wrote masques and stage plays; six of these "politicized entertainments" were performed at Apethorpe during the decade of the 1640s by Fane's children and servants. For his 1641 masque Candia Restaurata, Fane designed sets and stage effects and composed some of the music used in the production. Virtue's Triumph features personifications of Ambition and Impudence, Lies and Deceits; Nobility and Learning are married and the parents of Truth. The protagonist of De Pugna Animi is Lord Mens (Mind), who is assisted by figures like Sir Ratio Prudens in resisting a revolt of the five senses. Fane wrote his play The Change during his imprisonment in the Tower of London early in the Civil War. One of his plays, titled Ladrones, was known in manuscript in the 19th century and reportedly featured Sir Francis Drake, Thomas Cavendish, and Ferdinand Magellan as characters; but the MS. has been lost. Fane's total extant literary output includes over 900 poems in English and Latin, and eight plays or entertainments.

• Illustration — Mary de Vere, Countess of Westmorland Fane married twice: firstly, in 1620, to Grace Thornhurst, daughter of Sir William Thornhurst of Kent, with whom he had a son and five daughters; and secondly to Mary, daughter of Horace Lord Vere of Tillsbury, who bore him a son and four daughters, one of whom was Lady Mary Fane who married firstly Francis Palmes of Ashwell, Rutland, granddaughter of Sir Guy Palmes, and was widowed with no children. She married secondly John Cecil, 4th Earl of Exeter (1628–1678), a widower, on 24 January 1670. Mildmay's first son Charles, and his second son Vere, both succeeded to their father's title in turn (since Charles Fane, 3rd Earl, left no descendants). Mildmay Fane's younger brother Sir Francis Fane married Elizabeth West, daughter of William West of Firbeck Hall, Yorkshire, and widow of John, Lord Darcy of the North. Sir Francis Fane achieved some distinction as a writer, publishing poetry as well as three dramatic plays. He was made Knight of the Bath at the Coronation of Charles I, and served as governor of Doncaster Castle during the English civil war. Rachael Fane (1613–1680), one of Mildmay Fane's seven sisters and a resident of Apethorpe Hall, also wrote entertainments and a masque that were performed by the household. Her works survive in manuscript. Another younger brother was the Royalist and MP Colonel the Hon. George Fane.

• Raguaillo d'Oceano (1640) • Candia Restaurata ("Candy Restored", 1641) • Time's Trick Upon the Cards (1642) • The Change (1642) • Virtue's Triumph (1644) • Don Phoebo's Triumph (1645) • De Pugna Animi (1650) • Ladrones, or the Robbers' Island (lost)

The authorities additionally record the heading Mildmay Fane. His recorded language was English. He was the child of Francis Fane, 1st Earl of Westmorland and Mary Mildmay. He married Mary de Vere and Grace Thornhurst. 4 children are recorded: Charles Fane, 3rd Earl of Westmorland, Vere Fane, 4th Earl of Westmorland, Mary Fane and Lady Frances Fane.

Recorded positions include Member of Parliament in the Parliament of England, Member of the 1621-22 Parliament, Member of the 1625 Parliament, Member of the 1626 Parliament and Member of the 1628-29 Parliament. He belonged to Useless Parliament and 2nd Parliament of King Charles I.

Mildmay Fane, 2nd Earl of Westmorland is recorded as having received Order of the Bath.