Sir John Fenwick, 3rd Baronet

Sir John Fenwick, 3rd Baronet of Fenwick (* 1645, † January 28, 1697 in London) was a British Jacobite conspirator.

Fenwick came from a family of landowners in Northumberland and after the death of his father Sir William Fenwick 1675 3rd Baronet of Fenwick. He chose a military career and became Major General in 1688. 1677 to 1687 he was in the House on one of the seats of Northumberland. He was a partisan of James II, but remained after the accession of William of Orange in 1688 in the country. He was involved in the conspiracy plot against the new king, and therefore also in 1689 briefly in jail. His house in London ( Wallington ) was a meeting of the Jacobites, the landing and invasion of England starting planning of Newcastle- upon- Tyne in the north- east of the country, which should then connect French and Scottish invasion forces. After the disclosure of assassination plots his fellow conspirators 1695/6 he was hiding at first, but was arrested in June 1696, when his friends unwisely tried to intimidate a witness. His friends could then indeed eliminate one of the two witnesses against him, but a new law still allowed his charge, and on January 28, 1697, he was beheaded.

He had with his wife Mary († 1708), daughter of Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Carlisle, three sons and a daughter, who all died young. They are buried with him in St. Martin-in -the-Fields. His estate was auctioned after his death. One of his horses came into the possession of the king, and, ironically, William of Orange died as a result of a fall from this horse ( "White Sorrell " ), ostensibly as this tripped over a molehill. A secret Jacobite toast was therefore "The little gentleman in black velvet" ( The little gentleman in black velvet ).