Lord Simon Fenner is the main antagonist of the Sharpe novel Sharpe's Regiment and its television adaptation.
He was portrayed by Nicholas Farrell.
Biography[]
Novel[]
Lord Fenner was the Secretary of State at War. He had once desired the Lady Anne Comoynes but she spurned his advances, even when she was widowed. Eager to both have her and to punish her for rejecting him, Fenner bought up her husband's debts and forced to her to sleep with him to pay them off, which she complied with to save her young son from inheriting the debt.
Fenner conspired with Sir Henry Simmerson and the similarly incompetent and disgraced officer Bartholomew Girdwood to use the second battalion of the South Essex to set up an illegal crimping operation. Recruits were shipped off to a brutal secret training camp at Foulness, then auctioned off to other regiments with high casualty rates from fever.
When Major Richard Sharpe arrived back in England to investigate the lack of available recruits, Fenner managed to convince the Prince Regent that the South Essex had been turned into a holding battalion for soldiers being transferred to other regiments. He had Lady Anne charm Sharpe and learn he still intended to search for the missing battalion, so hired two assassins to kill him. The attempt failed.
Sharpe's former commanding officer, Sir William Lawford, told Fenner that Sharpe knew about Foulness and offered to hush it up if Fenner closed down the camp and gave Sharpe command of a battalion in the Anglo-American War. However, Lady Anne was determined to destroy Fenner, while Sharpe was eager to save his regiment. He took over command of Foulness from Girdwood on his own initiative and brought the recruits to London, parading them in front of the Prince Regent and dedicating them to him as the Prince of Wales' Own Volunteers.
Fenner was forced to admit the soldiers existed and give orders for them to be sent to Spain as reinforcements but was determined to punish Sharpe and had him court-martialled, intending to have him posted to a fever-ridden colony. He was thwarted by Lady Anne, who had found the documents proving the crimping. In order to avoid a scandal, Fenner was forced to cancel Lady Anne's debts and give in to Sharpe's demands to let him take the recruits to Spain and set up a proper second battalion and training camp.
Fenner and Simmerson tried to brazen things out by attending their London club but encountered Sharpe, who bluntly rebuffed them. Lady Anne later reported to Sharpe that Fenner had been forced to give up his ministerial post because of his lack of finances.
Television[]
Fenner met Major Richard Sharpe at the Prince Regent's reception and dismissed his questions about the missing South Essex battalion, claiming they "marched on paper". After having Lady Anne, who he had blackmailed into becoming his mistress, interrogate Sharpe, he sent two assassins after him and his friend Patrick Harper but they were defeated and Sharpe and Harper learned the truth of his crimping operation.
Fenner made a deal with Lawford to hush the matter up and had Simmerson give him the incriminating ledgers to burn. After Sharpe embarrassed him by parading the missing recruits in front of the Prince Regent, Fenner had him court-martialled but was forced to end proceedings when Lady Anne arrived with the ledgers. He gave in to Sharpe's demands to let him take Girdwood and the recruits to Spain and to set up a proper training camp, while Lady Anne warned that she would extract a hefty price for her silence.
Trivia[]
- The most notable difference between the book and television versions of Fenner is that the book describes Fenner as being in his 50s and walking with a cane, whereas on screen he is played by an actor in his early 40s and active.
