William Fairfax - Marriage and Family

Marriage and Family

In the Bahamas, Fairfax had married Sarah Walker (c. 1700 - January 21, 1731). Her father was a former Justice of the Vice admiralty court and acting deputy governor of the Bahamas, and served as a fellow Justice with Fairfax in the Bahamas. Sarah was said to be of mixed race and partial African ancestry through her mother, so their children were also mixed race. The Fairfaxes first had a daughter Anne, followed by a son George William Fairfax, and another daughter Sarah. William's wife Sarah died January 21, 1731.

After Sarah's death, Fairfax married Deborah Clarke. Together they had three sons: Thomas, William Henry "Billy," and Bryan, and a daughter Hannah.

In June 1743, the eldest Fairfax daughter Anne (then aged 15) was hastily married to Lawrence Washington. At age 25, Washington had recently returned to Virginia from two years at war in the Caribbean. He had served with distinction as a senior company officer in the American Regiment, under Admiral Edward Vernon, as "Captain of the Soldiers acting as Marines", aboard the admiral's flagship HMS Princess Caroline (80 guns).

Upon his return in 1742, Washington was appointed Adjutant (commander) of the Virginia militia, at the colonial rank of major. In the spring of 1743, the young Anne disclosed to her parents that she had been sexually molested by Charles Green, the Anglican priest of Truro Parish. Surviving court documents suggest Lawrence Washington may have been staying with the Fairfax family at Belvoir in the spring of 1743, awaiting the completion of his new home at nearby Little Hunting Creek, which he named Mount Vernon. In 1745 Washington took Green to court over his actions with Anne Fairfax; he and the senior Fairfax tried to have the priest deposed for the scandal, but were unsuccessful. Green rallied support in the county, and the trial was aborted.

Lawrence and Anne Washington had four children together, but all died in childhood.

George William Fairfax married Sally Cary; they had no children.

Sarah Fairfax married John Carlyle, and their descendants were prominent in Virginia, carrying their African ancestry into the elite.

William Fairfax's two younger sons both died in combat while serving the Crown: Thomas was killed in action on 25 June 1746 against the French Navy off the coast of India, aged about 15, while serving as a newly enrolled midshipman in the Royal Navy aboard HMS Harwich (50 guns). Lieutenant William Henry "Billy" Fairfax died of wounds received during the British Army's capture of Quebec in fall 1759 during the Seven Years' War.