Biography

Fane, thirteenth and youngest child of the Hon. Henry Fane

Henry Fane, MP

Henry Fane, MP for Lyme Regis 1772–1802.The younger son of Thomas Fane, 8th Earl of Westmorland. He was a Clerk to HM Treasury from 7 December 1757 until 29 August 1763, but was described as "very idle and careless and spending much time in the country".In January 1772 he became Keeper of the...

 and Anne, daughter of Edward Buckley Batson, and brother of General Sir Henry Fane

Henry Fane (general)

General Sir Henry Fane GCB commanded brigades under Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington during several battles during the Peninsular War, and served both as a member of Parliament and Commander-in-Chief of India....

 and Harriet Arbuthnot

Harriet Arbuthnot

Harriet Arbuthnot was an early 19th century English diarist, social observer and political hostess on behalf of the Tory party. During the 1820s she was the "closest woman friend" of the hero of Waterloo and British Prime Minister, the 1st Duke of Wellington...

, was born on 8 May 1796, and educated at Charterhouse School

Charterhouse School

Charterhouse School, originally The Hospital of King James and Thomas Sutton in Charterhouse, or more simply Charterhouse or House, is an English collegiate independent boarding school situated at Godalming in Surrey.Founded by Thomas Sutton in London in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian...

 from 1808 to 1813. He matriculated from Balliol College, Oxford

Balliol College, Oxford

Balliol College , founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England but founded by a family with strong Scottish connections....

, on 22 May 1813, and was afterwards a demy and fellow

Fellow

A fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...

 (1824–35) of Magdalen College, Oxford

Magdalen College, Oxford

Magdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...

, where he proceeded B.A.

Bachelor of Arts

A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 in 1817 and M.A. in 1819. He was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn

Lincoln's Inn

The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn. Although Lincoln's Inn is able to trace its official records beyond...

 on 1 June 1821, and soon enjoyed a considerable practice as an equity barrister

Barrister

A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...

.

In 1823 Lord Eldon appointed him one of the five commissioners of the "Thirteenth List", and on 2 December 1831 he was nominated by Lord Brougham one of the six commissioners who were to hold office under the new act establishing the Court of Bankruptcy.

In later life his judicial bearing was marked by an eccentricity of manner, but although his decisions were frequently the subject of comment, very few of his judgments were reversed on appeal. As a member of the Law Amendment Society he was a constant attendant at the weekly meetings in Lancaster Place

Lancaster Place

Lancaster Place is a short section of road in central London, which connects Waterloo Bridge to the major junction with the Aldwych and Strand. It is completely bisected by the northbound-only Strand Underpass which dives below the Aldwych enabling Kingsway-bound traffic to skip the "fiveways"...

.

He was much interested in railway schemes, and was for some years a director of the Eastern Counties Railway

Eastern Counties Railway

The Eastern Counties Railway was an early English railway company incorporated in 1836. It was intended to link London with Ipswich via Colchester, and then on to Norwich and Yarmouth. Construction began in late March 1837 on the first nine miles, at the London end of the line.Construction was...

.

Fane was an ardent lover of field sports, and was well known in the Leicester

Leicester

Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...

 hunts; he was also a patron of the fine arts, and possessed a collection of paintings.

He died at the Burdon Hotel, Weymouth, on 4 October 1864.

He married first, 24 June 1835, Isabella Mary, youngest daughter of Admiral Sir Eliab Harvey

Eliab Harvey

Admiral Sir Eliab Harvey, GCB was an eccentric and hot-tempered officer of the Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and the Napoleonic Wars who was as distinguished for his gambling and dueling as for his military record...

, G.C.B.; she died at Rolls Park, Chigwell

Chigwell

Chigwell is a civil parish and town in the Epping Forest district of Essex. It is located 11.6 miles north east of Charing Cross. It is served by two London Underground stations and has a London area code.-Etymology:According to P. H...

, on 15 December 1838; and secondly, on 7 September 1841, Harriet Anne, only daughter of Admiral the Hon. Sir Henry Blackwood, baronet

Henry Blackwood

Vice-Admiral Sir Henry Blackwood, 1st Baronet, GCH, KCB , whose memorial is in the St. John's Church, Killyleagh, was a British sailor....

; she died on 31 December 1869. By his first wife Fane had no issue. By his second wife he had a son, Cecil Francis William, and two daughters.

Publications

• Letter addressed to the Attorney-General [Sir John Campbell] on his Bill for the Abolition of Imprisonment for Debt, 1837
• Bankruptcy Reform, in a series of Letters addressed to Sir R. Peel, letters i–iii, 1838
• Bankruptcy Reform, letters iv–vii, 1838
• Observations on the proposed Abolition of Imprisonment for Debts on Mesne Process, in a Letter to Sir R. Peel, 1838
• Outline of a Plan for Improving the Law of Debtor and Creditor, without Abolishing Imprisonment for Debt, 1844
• A Letter to Lord Cottenham on the present position of Her Majesty's Commissioners of the Court of Bankruptcy, and suggesting a more extended use of that Court in matters of Account, 1846
• Bankruptcy Reform, in a series of Letters addressed to W. Hawes, Esq., letters i–iv, 1848
• Ministry of Justice; its necessity as an Instrument of Law Refor, 1848
• Sketch of an Act to Establish Tenant-Right
  Tenant-right
  Tenant-right is a term in the common law system expressing the right to compensation which a tenant has, either by custom or by law, against his landlord for improvements at the termination of his tenancy....
  
  in conformity to the principles suggested in an article in the “Law Review” for November 1848, signed C. F., 1849
• Tenant-Right, its necessity as a means of promoting good Farming, No. ii, 1849

Sources