Exton Sayer (c.1691-1731), of

Doctors' Commons Doctors' Commons, also called the College of Civilians, was a society of lawyers practising civil (as opposed to common) law in London, namely ecclesiastical and admiralty law. Like the Inns of Court of the common lawyers, the society had buildi ...

, London, was an English lawyer and Whig politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

from 1726 to 1731. At his death he held several important legal positions. Sayer was the eldest son of George Sayer of

and his wife Mary Exton, daughter of Everard Exton, proctor of Doctors' Commons. He was admitted at

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

on 20 May 1709 and at

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It is the fifth-oldest surviving college of the university, having been founded in 1350 by ...

on 11 June 1709. He was awarded LL.B. in 1713, and was a Fellow of Trinity Hall from 1714 to 1724. In 1718 he was awarded LL.D. and succeeded his grandfather as proctor of Doctors’ Commons. He married Catherine Talbot, daughter of William Talbot,

Bishop of Durham The Bishop of Durham is the Anglican bishop responsible for the Diocese of Durham in the Province of York. The diocese is one of the oldest in England and its bishop is a member of the House of Lords. Paul Butler has been the Bishop of Durham ...

on 6 February 1724 and then became Chancellor of Durham diocese. He also obtained valuable leases of ecclesiastical coal-bearing lands. In 1727 he succeeded his father. Sayer was returned as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Helston Helston ( kw, Hellys) is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated at the northern end of the Lizard Peninsula approximately east of Penzance and south-west of Falmouth.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map shee ...

, as a ministerial nominee, at a by-election on 13 May 1726 and quickly became one of the leading government spokesmen. He became

Admiralty Advocate The Admiralty Advocate was one of the Law Officers of the Crown. He represented the Crown in the High Court of Admiralty from 1661 to 1867. He was also known as the Advocate for the Affairs of the Admiralty. History The post was first establis ...

on 30 March 1727. At the

1727 British general election The 1727 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 7th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election was trigg ...

he was returned as MP for

Totnes Totnes ( or ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at the head of the estuary of the River Dart in Devon, England, within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is about west of Paignton, about west-so ...

. On 26 February 1730 he led for the Government against an opposition sponsored petition to end the monopoly of the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

. He was appointed Surveyor general of Crown lands in 1730. Sayer died without issue from a riding accident on 24 September 1731 and was buried in Durham Cathedral.

References

1691 births 1731 deaths Lawyers from London Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Totnes Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for constituencies in Cornwall British MPs 1722–1727 British MPs 1727–1734 Politicians from London {{England-GreatBritain-MP-stub