Francis Eyles (c. 1704–1750), of

Soho Square Soho Square is a garden square in Soho, London, hosting since 1954 a ''de facto'' public park let by the Soho Square Garden Committee to Westminster City Council. It was originally called King Square after Charles II, and a much weathered ...

, London, and Earnshill, near

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, was a British Army officer 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. T ...

from 1727 to 1742. Eyles was the eldest son of John Eyles of Southbroom, Wiltshire and his wife Mary Eyles, daughter of John Eyles of Chalford, Gloucestershire. He joined the army and was a cornet in the

4th Dragoons Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

in 1723 and a lieutenant in 1726 and became a captain by 1731. 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 trig ...

Eyles was returned unopposed 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 o ...

for

Devizes Devizes is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It developed around Devizes Castle, an 11th-century Norman castle, and received a charter in 1141. The castle was besieged during the Anarchy, a 12th-century civil war between ...

on the Eyles family interest. He became a member of the gaols committee of the House of Commons and voted with the Government. In 1732 he became one of the founding

Trustees for the Establishment of the Colony of Georgia in America The Trustees for the Establishment of the Colony of Georgia in America, or simply the Georgia Trustees, was organized by James Edward Oglethorpe and associates following parliamentary investigations into prison conditions in Britain. The organizati ...

. He was described as one of Walpole's ‘creatures’ and in 1734, he obtained a place as commissioner for victualling the navy worth £500 a year. He was returned unopposed again for Devizes at the

1734 British general election The 1734 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 8th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. Robert Walpole's incr ...

when he also stood at Calne. In 1735, he succeeded to the estates of his uncle Francis Eyles who had been expelled from Parliament in the South Sea Bubble scandal. He was returned unopposed again for Devizes at the

1741 British general election The 1741 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 9th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election saw suppo ...

. After the fall of Walpole in 1742, he gave up his seat and exchanged his place for a sinecure appointment as superintendent of the King's foundries. Eyles died on 21 September 1750.

References

1704 births 1750 deaths People from Taunton 4th Queen's Own Hussars officers Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1727–1734 British MPs 1734–1741 British MPs 1741–1747 {{England-GreatBritain-MP-stub