Belasyse, Thomas, Earl Fauconberg 1627-1700, son of Henry Belasyse, and grandson of Thomas, first Viscount Fauconberg, succeeded his grandfather in the viscounty of Fauconberg in 1652. Unlike his father and grandfather, he passed over to the side of the parliament, and subsequently became a strong adherent of Cromwell, whose third daughter, Mary, he married in 1657. He again became a royalist at the restoration, and was appointed a member of the privy council of Charles II, captain of the guard (in which office he succeeded his uncle), and ambassador in Italy. Lord-lieutenant of the North Riding (1660-92), he was one of the noblemen who invited William to England, and was raised in 1689 to the rank of earl. He died in 1700.

Sources:
     Forster's County Families of Yorkshire
     Collins's Peerage.

Contributor: C. F. K. [Charles Francis Keary]

Published: 1885