Fane, Francis William Henry, twelfth Earl of Westmorland 1825-1891, born in Hill Street, Berkeley Square, on 19 Nov. 1825, was the fourth but eldest surviving son of John Fane, eleventh earl of Westmorland [qv.], by his wife, Priscilla Anne, daughter of William Wellesley Pole, fourth earl of Mornington. He was admitted at Westminster School on 18 Sept. 1837, and proceeded thence to Sandhurst. He was gazetted ensign on 24 Feb. 1843, lieutenant on 26 July 1844, and served in the Punjab campaign of 1846. On 1 Aug. 1848 he was promoted captain and made aide-de-camp to Viscount Hardinge, the governor-general of India. He served under Lord Gough in the following winter, received a medal for bravery at the battle of Gujerat on 21 Feb. 1849, and obtained his majority on 7 June following. On the conclusion of the Sikh war he returned to England and exchanged into the Coldstream guards. On the outbreak of the Crimean war he went out as aide-de-camp to Lord Raglan (his uncle by marriage), and served with distinction at Alma (20 Sept. 1854), bringing home Raglan's despatches. He was appointed brevet lieutenant-colonel on the day of the battle, and lieutenant-colonel on 12 Dec. following. Subsequently he was present at Raglan's death on 28 June 1855 (Kinglake, Crimea, xiv. 148); he was made C.B. on 10 July 1855, and knight of the legion of honour on 30 April 1857; he also received the Crimean medal and the fifth-class order of Medjidié on 2 March 1858, and in 1856 became aide-de-camp to the Duke of Cambridge.
     Since the death of his elder brother in 1851 Fane had been styled Lord Burghersh, and on 16 Oct. 1859 he succeeded his father as twelfth earl of Westmorland. He retired from the army in 1860 with the rank of colonel, and devoted himself to the turf. He won many victories in the handicaps, but never succeeded in any of the great races for three-year-olds. Eventually heavy and unsuccessful betting compelled him to give up racing on his own account, but for some time he looked after the eighth Duke of Devonshire's horses (Black, Jockey Club, pp. 279-80). He died at 34 Brook Street on 3 Aug. 1891, and was buried at Apethorpe, Northamptonshire, his principal seat, on the 5th. He married at St. George's, Hanover Square, on 16 July 1857, Adelaide Ida (b. 12 July 1835), second daughter of Richard William Curzon, first earl Howe. He was succeeded by his only surviving son, Anthony Mildmay Julian, thirteenth earl of Westmorland.

Sources:
     Burke's, Foster's, and G. E. C[okayne]'s Peerages
     Army List, 1860, pp. 49, 125, 163
     Barker and Stenning's Westm. School Reg. p. 78
     Times, 4 and 6 Aug. 1891
     Black's Hist. of the Jockey Club.

Contributor: A. F. P. [Albert Frederick Pollard]

Published: 1901