Thomas Fenner (1540 - abt. 1597)

Born 1540 in Ifield, Sussex, England

Ancestors

Husband of Mary (Bellingham) Fenner — married about 20 Dec 1588 in Westbourne, Sussex, England

Died about 1597 at about age 57 in Sussex, England [uncertain]

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Biography

Thomas Fenner was a companion of Sir Francis Drake during the Anglo-Spanish War, and fought with distinction against the Spanish Armada of 1588.

Research Notes:

Captain Thomas Fenner has been conflated with Thomas Fenner the Elder of Horne, Surrey, yeoman. First, John Fenner and Elinor Goring only had one son Thomas, not an elder and a younger. There is no evidence to suppose the yeoman from Surrey was armigerous as the Sussex family was, and would have been unlikely to be elected MP for the seaport of Shoreham in Sussex or marry a daughter from the armigerous naval Bellingham family. His children, listed in his 1601 Will, are distinct from those of Captain Thomas Fenner of Sussex, as named in the 1530/1633 Visitation. of Sussex.^[1] These were completely different persons.

Thomas Fenner married twice, to two different women of the same name: Mary Bellingham. Their parentage is different and they should not be merged.

Shoreham

Thomas Fenner was the youngest of five sons of John Fenner of Ifield Sussex and his wife Elinor Goring, as listed in Elinor's 1579 Will. ^[2] The sequence of births probably places his birth about 1540.

Three of the elder Fenner sons - George, William, and Edward - were mariners who distinguished themselves in the battles against the Spanish Armada. Another son Sir Edward Fenner was a Justice of the Court of the King's Bench. Thomas also went to sea, but he settled for some time in Shoreham Sussex, where there was an active shipbuilding industry under Elizabeth I, who offered a bounty for every ship over 100 tons. ^[3] Thomas Fenner collected this bounty for his bark Fenner of 150 tons, in which he and members of his family later went on privateering raids. ^[4] He allegedly also used the bark to ship cast-iron ordnance to Spain. He was summoned to answer this charge on 2 January 1579, confessed, and was briefly confined in the Fleet Prison from 28 January to 7 February. ^[3]

Thomas's lawyer brother Edward was elected to Parliament from Shoreham in 1572 after sitting for Lewes the previous year. In 1584, Thomas Fenner stood successfully for this seat. ^[5] The HOP author gives the opinion that the Member for Shoreham and the mariner were two different persons, as does Pollard ^[6]but there is no apparent reason to suppose Thomas did not run in the place of his brother. Pollard also suggests that Thomas Fenner was at some point a victualler, which there seems no reason to doubt, as there would have been business for victuallers in such a port.

Mariner

It is likely, though, that he spent much time at sea during these years, probably sailing the bark Fenner to Spain with his illicit cargoes and engaging in acts of piracy in the ship with his brothers. ^[7] His elder brother George was well-known for his freebooting activities before 1566, when the Spanish ambassador tried to keep him out of Spanish territory. ^[8]

Thomas Fenner first came to the attention of history, though, in 1585, when he sailed with Francis Drake as his flag captain on the ship Elizabeth Bonaventura to attack Spanish territory in the West Indies at the outset of the Anglo-Spanish War. ^[9] In 1586, he and Martin Frobisher led the successful land assault on the city of Cartagena, while Drake attacked from sea.

The next year, as captain of the Dreadnought, Fenner sailed again with Drake in his spectacularly successful assault on Cadiz, where large elements of the Spanish Armada were being assembled. During the course of this expedition, Fenner wrote regularly to Francis Walsingham, secretary to the queen, keeping him informed on developments. ^[10]

In 1588, the year the Armada finally sailed, Fenner commanded the Nonpareil in Drake's squadron as his vice-admiral. ^{[11] [12]} With Drake, Lord Thomas Howard, Lord Sheffield, Sir Roger Williams, Hawkins, Frobisher, he was one of the council of war assembled to direct operations against the enemy. ^[13] He was also in the heat of the action in the Nonpareil. ^[14]

The next year, the English raised an armada of their own, led by Drake, against Spain and Portugal, in which Thomas Fenner led one of the squadrons in the Dreadnought as vice-admiral, ^{[11] [15]} appointed as a successor to the command in case Drake fell. ^[16] This expedition was a disaster for the English fleet, and it marks the last significant moment in Fenner's naval career. Pollard ^[6] suggests he may have died in the course of a private expedition against the West Indies, but other sources disagree.

Family

Considerable confusion attends Thomas Fenner's marriages, as the sources are not clear or reliable. An addition to the Visitation of Sussex ^[1] lists a Thomas Fenner of Shoram as brother of Fenner the Judge and married to Mary, daughter of John Bellingham of Hartingham (possibly Harting or Eringham) . An unconnected entry lists "Thomas Fenner of Shoram a Captain" as married to Mary, daughter of Edward Bellingham of New Timber in county Sussex. Research shows that these are the same person: Thomas Fenner was the brother of Edward Fenner (the elder), Justice of the King's Bench as well as a captain in the English navy. The daughter of Edward Bellingham appears to be the first wife, the daughter of John Bellingham appears to be the second.

His brother Edward Fenner (the captain) in his Will dated 1608 ^[17] listed two daughters (unnamed) of his brother Thomas Fenner - one which he had from his first wife and one which he had from his second wife (both unnamed). This shows that Thomas married twice, and most likely to the two cousins Mary Bellingham. Henry Bellingham was a captain in the English fleet fighting the Armada, and undoubtedly the family was known by Fenner.^[18] The Visitation ^[1] lists the child of Mary Bellingham of Hartingham as Anne, and the children of Mary Bellingham of New Timber as Edward, Jane and Mary. Thus the daughters named in Edward Fenner's Will would likely be Anne and either Jane or Mary. In Edward Fenner's second Will ^[19] he named a "niece Anne Shelley", who would probably be the daughter of his brother Thomas's son Edward Fenner of Alborne, whose wife was apparently Mary Shelly.

Thomas's son Edward , son of Mary Bellingham of New Timber, was likely the Edward Fenner of Albourne or Alborne whose Will dated 13 July 1603 was proved on 9 October 1605. ^[20] In it, he left his estate to his wife Mary Shelley, daughter of Richard, ^[21] as he wished her to provide for their children. The Will was witnessed by Edward Bellingham and Henry Shelly, perhaps a brother of Mary.

In 1594, Thomas Fenner, in suing John Yonge, Customer of the Port of Chichester, was styled as "of Alborne". It would thus appear that Thomas had settled at some point in Alborne and his son Edward lived there after him. A burial of a Thomas Fenner was recorded at Bolney Sussex on 7 June 1597. ^[22] No Will has been discovered.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Benolte, Thomas; Philipot, John; & Owen, George. The Visitations of the County of Sussex: 1530 and 1633-4. London: The Harleian Society, 1905. Vol LIII, p. 108. p 108, Fenner - Wodye
2. ↑ Proved 23 November 1579 PROB 11/61/542
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Cheal, Henry. The Story of Shoreham p. 147. 1921. Shoreham
4. ↑ Meyers, Charles. "Debt in Elizabethan England: the adventures of Dr Hector Nunez, physician and merchant". Jewish Historical Studies, Vol. 34 (1994-1996), pp. 125-140. JSTOR
5. ↑ History of Parliament Online: Fenner, Thomas HOP
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Dictionary of National Biography, 1901 supplement, Volume 2/ Fenner, Thomas by Albert Frederick Pollard. DNB
7. ↑ "Queen Elizabeth - Volume 177: March 1585." Calendar of State Papers Domestic: Elizabeth, 1581-90. Ed. Robert Lemon. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1865. 229-235. British History Online. Web. 5 September 2023. March 30
8. ↑ "Queen Elizabeth - Volume 40: October 1566." Calendar of State Papers Domestic: Edward VI, Mary and Elizabeth, 1547-80. Ed. Robert Lemon. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1856. 279-281. British History Online. Web. 6 September 2023. October 13 October 28
9. ↑ Corbett, Sir Julian Stafford. Drake and the Tudor navy, vol 2, pp. 12-13. London : Longmans, Green, 1917. p. 12
10. ↑ Corbett, p. 66 ff. p. 66
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1} Three Decks. Thomas
12. ↑ Corbett, p. 150 p. 150
13. ↑ Corbett, p. 146, n. p. 146
14. ↑ Corbett, pp. 222-242. p. 222
15. ↑ Corbett, pp. 303 ff. p. 303
16. ↑ "Queen Elizabeth - Volume 222: February 1589." Calendar of State Papers Domestic: Elizabeth, 1581-90. Ed. Robert Lemon. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1865. 577-582. British History Online. Web. 7 September 2023. February 23
17. ↑ "Will of Edward Fenner, Gentleman of Chichester, Sussex" PROB 11/123/362
18. ↑ Corbett, Sir Julian Stafford Papers relating to the Navy during the Spanish war, 1585-1587, p. 298. London: Printed for the Navy Records Society, 1898. #35
19. ↑ "Will of Edward Fenner of Hayes Middlesex" PROB 11/124/155
20. ↑ "Will of Edward Fenner of Albourne, Sussex" PROB 11/106/160
21. ↑ William Berry, County Genealogies: Pedigrees of the Families in the County of Sussex, p. 65. London: Sherwood, Gilbert & Piper, 1830. [Shelley
22. ↑ Sussex : Bolney : St Mary Magdalene : Transcript : "Parish Register" database, FreeREG : burial Thomas Fenner 07 Jun 1597