Francis Owen (1745–1774) was a British politician who was elected to 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. ...

in 1774 but was killed in an accident before Parliament met. Owen was the younger son of William Owen of

Porkington Brogyntyn, or Porkington, is a mansion in the parish of Selatyn to the north-west of Oswestry in Shropshire, England. Brogyntyn Hall was the home of the Ormsby-Gore family from 1815, and had previously been the estate of their ancestors the Maur ...

Selattyn, Shropshire and his wife Mary Godolphin, daughter of Rev. Henry Godolphin, Dean of St. Paul's and was baptized on 24 February 1745. His uncle

Francis Godolphin, 2nd Baron Godolphin Francis Godolphin, 2nd Baron Godolphin (2 November 1706 – 25 May 1785) was a British politician and peer. Life and career He was the eldest surviving son of Henry Godolphin, provost of Eton and Dean of St Paul's, and was educated at Eton Colle ...

was MP for Helston. Owen was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

in 1756, and matriculated at

Pembroke College, Oxford Pembroke College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, is located at Pembroke Square, Oxford. The college was founded in 1624 by King James I of England, using in part the endowment of merchant Thomas Tesdale, and was named after ...

in 1764. In the early 1770s The Swiss-French painter

Jean-Étienne Liotard Jean-Étienne Liotard (; 22 December 1702 – 12 June 1789) was a Swiss painter, art connoisseur and dealer. He is best known for his portraits in pastel, and for the works from his stay in Turkey. A Huguenot of French origin and citizen of the R ...

visited England when one of his patrons was

James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Clanbrassil James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Clanbrassil, KG, KP, PC (I) (23 August 1730 – 6 February 1798), was an Anglo-Irish peer, styled Viscount Limerick from 1756 to 1758. Lord Clanbrassil was the son of James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Clanbrassil, and ...

. Clanbrassil was connected with the Godolphin family and was MP for Helston. Liotard painted a portrait of Clanbrassil and subsequently in 1773 a portrait of Owen, dressed in 17th century costume. At the 1774 general election Owen stood 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 ...

on the Godolphin interest and was elected 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 ...

after a contest. However, before Parliament met, he was killed by a fall from his horse on 16 November 1774 when a bridge at Walton Derbyshire, which he was riding over, collapsed.Hon Fanny Mary Catherine Ormsby-Gore Bulkeley The register of Selattyn, Shropshire 1906
/ref> He was unmarried.

References

Sources

Lowell Libson Portrait of Francis Owen by Jean-Étienne Liotard 1773
{{DEFAULTSORT:Owen, Francis 1745 births 1774 deaths People educated at Eton College Alumni of Pembroke College, Oxford Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1774–1780