the decease of the Earl of Plymouth in 1687, he was promoted from the Life Guards to the Colonelcy of the FOURTH HORSE. He was also Governor of Holy Island, and a Member of Parliament for the county of Northumberland. Sir John Fenwick appears to have been devotedly attached to the Stuart dynasty; and, having been advanced to the rank of Major-General in November, 1688, he refused to take the required oath to the Prince of Orange at the Revolution, and his regiment was given to Viscount Colchester. After the accession of William and Mary, Sir John did not abstain from corresponding with the dethroned monarch. After the decease of Queen Mary, he assisted in planning an insurrection in favour of King James, which was to have broken out in the winter of 1695-6, and he agreed to command a body of horse. At this time a plot for the assassination of King William was discovered, and Sir John Fenwick was apprehended at New Romney, on his way to France, on an attainder of high treason, and was brought to trial before the Parliament. No proof of his guilt was produced; but the written evidence of a witness on a former trial was produced against him. This proceeding gave rise to much altercation amongst the members; but the Bill was at length carried by a majority of seven: forty-one Lords, including eight Prelates, entering a protest against the decision. An offer of pardon was made to him by the Peers, on condition that he would make a full discovery; but he chose to suffer death rather than incur the disgrace of becoming an informer. He was beheaded on Tower Hill on the 28th of January, 1697. At the time of his execution, he professed his attachment to King James, and expressed a wish that the exiled monarch might be restored to the throne. RICHARD VISCOUNT COLCHESTER, _Appointed 31st December, 1688_.