Francis Page (c. 1726–1803) was a British politician who sat in the
House of Commons for 33 years from 1768 to 1801.
Page was born Francis Bourne, the son of Richard Bourne of Ombersley, Worcestershire and his wife Isabella Smith, niece of judge
Sir Francis Page. He succeeded to the estates of his uncle Sir Francis Page and took name of Page in 1741.
He matriculated at
New College, Oxford
New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at th ...
on 29 April 1743, aged 16 and was created MA on 1 August 1747 and DCL on 14 April 1749.
He was
High Sheriff of Oxfordshire
The High Sheriff of Oxfordshire, in common with other counties, was originally the King's representative on taxation upholding the law in Saxon times. The word Sheriff evolved from 'shire-reeve'.
The title of High Sheriff is therefore much older ...
for 1752–1753. He embellished and consolidated the estate he inherited at
Middle Aston
Middle Aston is a hamlet and civil parish in the English county of Oxfordshire, about northwest of Bicester. It used to have a country house, Middle Aston House, but this was demolished early in the 19th century. The house was replaced in the ...
.
[
Page had no great political or intellectual attainments, but was devoted to the Church and University. He was elected as Member of Parliament for Oxford University in ]1768
Events
January–March
* January 9 – Philip Astley stages the first modern circus, with acrobats on galloping horses, in London.
* February 11 – Samuel Adams's circular letter is issued by the Massachusetts House of Rep ...
after a contest, and held his seat unopposed for 33 years. By 1790 he was secure in his seat for as long as he wished to hold it but he was politically negligible apart from his attachment to Tory principles in church and state. Early in 1793 he was so ill that there was a canvass for his seat, and on 10 December 1795 he took leave of absence for two weeks to recover his health. In April 1796 he decided to offer himself for re-election in the 1796 general election. Having come into the 1st United Kingdom Parliament in 1801, he resigned his seat within the first quarter of 1801.[
Page died on 24 August 1803 in his 78th year. He left his estate to his nephew William Sturges who took the additional name of Bourne and subsequently sold Middle Aston for £13,166 to Sir Clement Cottrell Dormer.][
]
References
Sources
{{DEFAULTSORT:Page, Francis
1720s births
1803 deaths
Politicians from Worcestershire
Alumni of New College, Oxford
High Sheriffs of Oxfordshire
Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies
British MPs 1768–1774
British MPs 1774–1780
British MPs 1780–1784
British MPs 1784–1790
British MPs 1790–1796
British MPs 1796–1800
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies
UK MPs 1801–1802