FAIRFAX is a hard name to avoid in Yorkshire. Fairfax House in York is one of the most impressive Georgian buildings anywhere. Addresses in the region include Fairfax Court, Fairfax Croft and Fairfax Street in York, Fairfax Avenue, Selby, and Fairfax Close in Ampleforth. Gilling East is home to the Fairfax Arms.

But what do we know about the origins of Fairfax? Or about the family who lent their name to so many landmarks?

Much more now, thanks to Gerry Webb's book, Fairfax Of York: The Life And History Of A Noble Family. Mr Webb was first a guide and then the live-in custodian at Fairfax House. He moved out with wife Judy when they retired from the post in 1997; although they were naturally reluctant to leave behind the elegant guest rooms with unrivalled views of the Minster.

Mr Webb was first bitten by the curiosity bug that eventually led to the book when the building was first opened to the public in 1984.

Fairfax House was built in the 18th century. In around 1759 it was acquired by Charles Gregory Fairfax, who set about restoring it. Architect John Carr was hired to transform the interior. The result was one of his finest achievements.

Yet before the modern restoration, the building had fallen into a sad state of disrepair. For nearly 60 years, the building became one half of the St George's Hall cinema and dance hall. That closed in the Sixties and one half was pulled down in 1970.

Fairfax House was purchased by York City Council for £20,000. The civic trust, too, wanted to secure its future. But no one was sure what to do with it.

That changed in 1981. Noel Terry, chairman of the confectionery business, had died the previous year. He had amassed one of the finest private collections of 18th century furniture in the country.

The Noel Terry trustees offered the civic trust the collection for display in the house. The council was persuaded to sell the house to the trust and it was brilliantly restored and Gerry Webb, a retired British Rail manager and one of the Friends of Fairfax House who became one of the room hosts after it reopened.

"It became clear to me from the very first day that there were lamentable gaps in my knowledge," Mr Webb writes in the preface to his book. "It was one thing learning about the architecture and the furniture; there it was all around us and we had information sheets to help us when we faltered in our explanations.

"But when on Day 1 a tall, distinguished-looking American visitor, the first of countless numbers of his compatriots, entered the dining room, looked around him for a few moments and then addressed me in his soft Virginian drawl, 'Say, who were these Fairfaxes; were they anything to do with the Fairfaxes of Virginia?', I knew it was time to start doing some homework."

That homework turned into full-scale research, and now into an authoritative and entertaining book.

Fairfax, Mr Webb informs us, is derived from the Saxon word 'feax' meaning hair. And the fair-haired family were well-established in England before William did his conquering in 1066.

He traces the family tree through various lines: there were Fairfaxes in Steeton, near Tadcaster, and Denton, near Otley, at Walton and then Gilling Castle, hence the Fairfax Arms.

They were a colourful bunch. Robert Fairfax (c1460-1521) was a composer who wrote a song in 1485 marking the death of Richard III and the ascension of Henry VII after the Battle Of Bosworth. Entitled 'That was my woe is now my gladnesse', it was intended to allay the new monarch's suspicions about the loyalties of York, such a firm supporter of Richard.

A romantic story comes from the Denton branch of the Fairfax family. Isabel Thwaites was an orphan and had been placed under the guardianship of the Abbess of a nunnery at Appleton, near York.

Sir William Fairfax met and fell in love with her, but the Abbess took a dim view of this, confining Isabel to the nunnery and forbidding William entrance.

Not one to take no for an answer, he gathered together a group of friends, forced his way in and carried Isabel off in triumph. They were married in Bolton Percy Church in 1518.

Sir William's eldest surviving son, Thomas, was born in 1521 and rose to become Lord Mayor of York. His descendants included Helen, who pretended she was bewitched. Several old women she accused were charged with witchcraft but, fortunately, they were acquitted at York Assizes.

Her younger sister Elizabeth, no doubt influenced by her older sibling, pulled the same 'bewitched' trick in order to get out of lessons. She never learned to write and could only sign her name with a cross. Black Tom Fairfax was the famous general who led his armies to tremendous victories in the Civil War.

Mr Webb devotes the larger part of his narrative to Charles Gregory, 9th Viscount Fairfax of Emley, the man who gave his name to Fairfax House.

Charles Fairfax married Elizabeth, but she died of smallpox contracted on a visit to Bath. His second wife was a distant cousin, Mary. She bore him no fewer than nine children. Sadly only Anne was destined to live a long life; the next oldest child, Elizabeth, died when she was 17.

More than one of their daughters attended the Bar Convent School in York.

For Lord Fairfax, a devoted family man, the loss of so many children must have been hard to bear. He busied himself running Gilling Castle and his other Yorkshire estates.

Lord Fairfax moved to York and created Fairfax House for his one remaining daughter, Anne, when he was an old man. It was the 1760s. "He was determined to settle down at last and devote the remainder of his days to the difficult task of bringing back some happiness into the life of his only surviving child," writes Mr Webb.

His book also recalls York's thriving social scene in the 18th century, and reveals how those American Fairfaxes came to settle in Virginia.

In his last chapter, he brings the story up to date. He recalls with a shudder various planning schemes that would have involved the demolition of Fairfax House, had they gone ahead - and its rebirth as a cinema in 1919.

"Seat prices were 1s 6d, 1s and 8d, and there was a large corridor proudly described as being capable of holding a queue of 1,000 persons under cover.

"No wonder the grand staircase collapsed, but with great resourcefulness the company overcame the difficulty by propping it up with a cigarette kiosk underneath."

Since it opened to the public in 1984, half a million pairs of feet have walked through the splendour of Fairfax House. Now, thanks to Mr Webb's work, no guide need ever again be stuck for an answer to a question about the Fairfax family.

Fairfax of York: The Life And History Of A Noble Family by Gerry Webb is published by Maxiprint, price £19.95