general who fought on the parliamentarian side in the English Civil Wars and who was father of Thomas, 3rd Baron Fairfax, and parliamentarian commander in chief.

The son of the 1st Baron Fairfax, he was trained as a soldier in the Netherlands. He commanded a foot regiment in the first Bishop's War (1639) but took no part in the campaign of 1640. He shared the resentment of other Yorkshire gentlemen over heavy demands for billeting and other services made upon them and became a moderate parliamentarian in the Civil Wars. He was member of Parliament for Boroughbridge in seven Parliaments and for Yorkshire in the Long Parliament and was member of the committee that presented the Grand Remonstrance to Charles I (November 1640).

From 1642 to 1644 he commanded in several battles in Yorkshire. Governor of York in July 1644, he took Pontefract in December, but resigned his command after the passing of the Self-Denying Ordinance. Fairfax died in Yorkshire from an accident in 1648.