Charles Fairfax

Charles Fairfax (1596–1673) was an English antiquary and genealogist.

Early life Fairfax was born at Denton, Yorkshire on 5 March 1596, and was the seventh and third surviving son of Sir Thomas (afterwards first Lord) Fairfax. His two surviving brothers (four others were killed in 1621) were Ferdinando and Henry. He entered Trinity College, Cambridge on 5 October 1611, and was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn on 9 March 1618. About 1627 he married Mary, sole heiress of the Breary family, of Scough Hall in the forest of Knaresborough and Menston.

The counsellor and annalist of his family, the rest of his life was spent mainly on his family tree, at Menston, Yorkshire. At Menston he was within a few miles of his paternal home at Denton.

By his will, dated 1672, Fairfax bequeathed manuscripts to Lincoln's Inn.