Francis Fane, 1st Earl of Westmorland (1 February 1580 – 23 March 1629), KB (styled Sir Francis Fane between 1603 and 1624[1]) of Mereworth in Kent and of Apethorpe in Northamptonshire was an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1601 and 1624 and then was raised to the Peerage as Earl of Westmorland.

He was the eldest surviving son and heir of Sir Thomas Fane (died 1589) of Badsell in the parish of Tudeley in Kent, by his second wife Mary Neville, suo jure Baroness le Despenser (c. 1554–1626), heiress of Mereworth in Kent,[5] sole daughter and heiress of Henry Nevill, 6th Baron Bergavenny (died 1587) (a descendant of Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland (c.1364-1425)[6]) by his wife, Lady Frances Manners,[7] 3rd daughter of Thomas Manners, 1st Earl of Rutland.

According to The Complete Peerage "the long line of Welsh descent, as given in the Heraldic Visitation of Kent 1574, is spurious".

Fane was educated at Maidstone Grammar School in Kent and in about 1595 matriculated at Queens' College, Cambridge.

On 15 February 1598/99 Fane married Mary Mildmay (died 9 April 1640), daughter and eventual sole heiress of Sir Anthony Mildmay (d. 1617), of Apethorpe Hall near the City of Peterborough in Northamptonshire, British Ambassador to France, by his wife Grace Sherington (1552–1620) a daughter and co-heiress of Sir Henry Sherington (alias Sharington) (c. 1518–1581) of Lacock Abbey in Wiltshire.