On the 18th of July following, Lord Windsor was appointed lord-lieutenant of Worcestershire; and, in 1665, he was sent governor to Jamaica. During his stay in the West Indies, Lord Windsor assembled the troops under his command, defeated 3000 Spaniards, and captured seven ships in the harbour of St. Jago de la Cuba; and eventually took the town and castle, with the cannon of the works, and five hundred barrels of powder. Not enjoying his health in that climate, his Lordship received permission to return to England; and, after his arrival, he was appointed one of his Majesty's Privy Council in Ireland. At length his Majesty, taking into consideration the eminent services of Lord Windsor, advanced him to the dignity of Earl of Plymouth, by patent dated the 6th of December, 1682.
The Earl of Plymouth enjoyed the affection and confidence of King James II., who conferred upon him the Colonelcy of the Fourth Regiment of Horse (now 3rd Dragoon Guards), and also appointed him one of the Privy Council. He died on the 3rd of November, 1687, and was buried in the church of Tarbick.
Sir John Fenwick, Bart.,
Appointed 6th November, 1687.
John Fenwick, Esq., was a loyal cavalier in the reign of King Charles II., and an officer of the Queen's Troop (now Second Regiment) of Life Guards. He served under the Duke of Monmouth, with the French army, in the Netherlands, during the campaigns of 1672 and 1673. In the succeeding year he obtained permission to proceed to Holland; and, in 1675, he was appointed Colonel of an Irish regiment in the Dutch service (the present Fifth Foot). He served with his regiment during the campaign of that year under the Prince of Orange; and, in the following summer, he served at the siege of Maestricht, where he was severely wounded while on duty with his regiment in the trenches (2nd August, 1676). Shortly afterwards some angry words passed between him and the Prince of Orange, when he quitted the Dutch service, and, returning to England, resumed his duties in the Life Guards; and, from this period, a personal aversion is said to have existed between his Highness and Colonel Fenwick. The Colonel was, however, well received at the British court: he succeeded, on the decease of his father, to the dignity of a baronet, and, in 1678, King Charles II. promoted him to the rank of Brigadier-General, and gave him the Colonelcy of a newly-raised regiment of foot, with which he proceeded to Flanders; but, after the peace of Nimeguen, this regiment was disbanded, and Sir John again resumed his duties in the Life Guards, in which corps he rose to the rank of Lieutenant and Lieutenant-Colonel. In 1686 he was appointed Inspecting General of Cavalry (jointly with Brigadier-General Sir John Lanier), and, after 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.