Sir Francis Sykes, 1st Baronet
Sir Francis Sykes, 1st Baronet (1732–1804) was an English country landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1771 and 1804. He was sometime Governor of Cossimbazar in India, being styled an English nabob by his peers.
Career
Sykes was born in Thornhill in the West Riding of Yorkshire in 1732.[1]
Having joined the British East India Company, Sykes amassed a fortune in Bengal at the court of the Nawab. He became the Governor of Cossimbazar. During his time in India, he became good friends with both Warren Hastings and Lord Clive.
On his return to England, Sykes purchased Ackworth Park in Yorkshire and Basildon Park in Berkshire. He was for many years the Member of Parliament for Shaftesbury, and then for Wallingford. He acquired a baronetcy in 1781.[2] Sir Francis lived in Basildon, although he died in 1804, before his house there was completed. His son, Francis William Sykes (1767–1804) also served as the Member of Parliament for Wallingford.
Memorial
Both Sir Francis and his son are commemorated in an unusual memorial at St Bartholomew's Church, Lower Basildon, which reuses a 14th-century chest tomb in the chancel wall.[3] It was sculpted by John Flaxman.[4]
References
- Leigh Rayment's list of baronets
Parliament of Great Britain | ||
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Preceded by | Member of Parliament for Shaftesbury 1771–1775 With: William Chaffin Grove 1771–74 Thomas Rumbold 1774–75 | Succeeded by |
Preceded by | Member of Parliament for Shaftesbury 1780–1784 With: Sir Thomas Rumbold 1780–81 Hans Winthrop Mortimer 1781–84 | Succeeded by Hans Winthrop Mortimer Adam Drummond |
Preceded by | Member of Parliament for Wallingford 1784–1801 With: Thomas Aubrey 1784–90 Nathaniel Wraxall 1790–94 Francis Sykes 1794–96 The Lord Eardley 1796–1801 | Succeeded by Parliament of the United Kingdom |
Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
Preceded by Parliament of Great Britain | Member of Parliament for Wallingford 1801–1804 With: The Lord Eardley 1801–02 William Hughes 1802–04 | Succeeded by William Hughes George Galway Mills |
Baronetage of Great Britain | ||
New creation | Baronet (of Basildon) 1781–1804 | Succeeded by |
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