Fenwick, SIR JOHN

Fenwick, SIR JOHN, was born about 1645, and, after serving in the army, in 1688 entered parliament as Tory member for Northumberland. He afterwards entered ardently into the conspiracy known as the Assassination Plot (see ASSASSINATION), and in 1696, being committed to the Tower, made an artful confession involving several Whig leaders in the Jacobite intrigues. Since the only witness against him had been spirited out of the country, the Whig party, furious at these charges, secured the passing of a bill of attainder against Fenwick, under which he was beheaded, 28th January 1697.