Sir Gregory Page, 1st Baronet (c. 1669 – 25 May 1720), of Greenwich, Kent, was an English brewer, merchant and Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1708 and 1720.

Early life

Page was the eldest son of Gregory Page (died 1693) and his second wife Elizabeth Burton. Page Senior was a wealthy London merchant, shipwright and director of the British

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 ...

, who owned a brewery in Wapping. He was also an

Alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

of the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

in 1687. Elizabeth Burton was a widow from Stepney.Sedgwick, Romney R. (1970
"PAGE, Sir Gregory, 1st Bt. (c.1668–1720), of Greenwich"
''The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1715–1754'', edited by Romney Sedgwick Page Junior married Mary Trotman, the 17-year-old daughter of Thomas and Mary Trotman of London, on 21 January 1690.

Career

Page followed his father's footsteps as a brewer and merchant, building a vast fortune in trade with South and East Asia. He was on the committee of the Old East India Company from 1706 to 1708. At a by-election in December 1708, he was elected Whig

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 New Shoreham,

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ar ...

where the prime industry was shipbuilding. In Parliament he voted in favour of the naturalization of the Palatines in 1709, and for the impeachment of Dr Sacheverell in 1710. He was a director of the East India Company from 1709 to 1712. At the

1710 British general election The 1710 British general election produced a landslide victory for the Tories. The election came in the wake of the prosecution of Henry Sacheverell, which had led to the collapse of the previous government led by Godolphin and the Whig Junto. ...

, he was re-elected MP for Shoreham despite accusations that he had bribed voters for their support. However he did not stand at the

1713 general election Events January–March * January 17 – Tuscarora War: Colonel James Moore leads the Carolina militia out of Albemarle County, North Carolina, in a second offensive against the Tuscarora. Heavy snows force the troops to take re ...

. From 1713 to 1714 he was a Director of the East India Company and was created a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

on 3 December 1714.

Cokayne, George Edward George Edward Cokayne, (29 April 1825 – 6 August 1911), was an English genealogist and long-serving herald at the College of Arms in London, who eventually rose to the rank of Clarenceux King of Arms. He wrote such authoritative and standar ...

(1906)
Complete Baronetage
'. Volume V. Exeter: W. Pollard & Co. . p. 24 Page was returned as Whig MP for New Shoreham, at the

1715 general election Events For dates within Great Britain and the British Empire, as well as in the Russian Empire, the "old style" Julian calendar was used in 1715, and can be converted to the "new style" Gregorian calendar (adopted in the British Empire i ...

, and supported the Hanoverian government from then on. In 1715, he became a Director of the East India Company and in 1716 became a director of the Royal Hospital Greenwich, holding both positions for the rest of his life.Watson, Paula; Hayton, D. W. (2002
"PAGE, Gregory (c.1669–1720), of Greenwich, Kent"
''The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1690–1715'', edited by D. Hayton, E. Cruickshanks, S. Handley

Personal life and death

Page died on 25 May 1720 in his 51st year, and was buried at Greenwich on 2 June 1720. He left four children: two sons (Gregory and Thomas) and two daughters (Mary and Sophia). The baronetcy, with his "immense fortune", was inherited by his eldest son, Gregory. His widow died at Greenwich on 4 March 1729 in her 56th year. She was buried in a vault at

Bunhill Fields Bunhill Fields is a former burial ground in central London, in the London Borough of Islington, just north of the City of London. What remains is about in extent and the bulk of the site is a public garden maintained by the City of London Cor ...

on the outskirts of the

. Her epitaph hints at a painful illness, which was possibly

Meigs's syndrome In medicine, Meigs's syndrome, also Meigs syndrome or Demons–Meigs syndrome, is the triad of ascites, pleural effusion, and benign ovarian tumor ( ovarian fibroma, fibrothecoma, Brenner tumour, and occasionally granulosa cell tumour). Meigs syn ...

. The epitaph reads in part:

Heirs

The first baronet's second son, Thomas, married a sister of

Viscount Howe A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. In many countries a viscount, and its historical equivalents, was a non-hereditary, administrative or judicial ...

and was buried, without issue, at Greenwich on 4 November 1763. Gregory, the second baronet, died in 1776, when the baronetcy became extinct. The estate passed to Sir Gregory Turner, 3rd Baronet, who took the name Page-Turner in consequence. He was the grandson of the first baronet's daughter Mary (buried 18 February 1724 at Greenwich), who had married the first Turner baronet, Edward Turner. The first baronet's other daughter Sophia was the first wife of Lewis Way (a member of the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

, director of the South Sea Company and president of

Guy's Hospital Guy's Hospital is an NHS hospital in the borough of Southwark in central London. It is part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and one of the institutions that comprise the King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre. ...

). She died without issue on 2 January 1735. Burke, John (1838) ''A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland, Enjoying Territorial Possessions Or High Official Rank'', vol. 4, p. 677

Arms

His coat of arms was

Azure Azure may refer to: Colour * Azure (color), a hue of blue ** Azure (heraldry) ** Shades of azure, shades and variations Arts and media * ''Azure'' (Art Farmer and Fritz Pauer album), 1987 * Azure (Gary Peacock and Marilyn Crispell album), 2013 ...

fess In heraldry, a fess or fesse (from Middle English ''fesse'', from Old French ''faisse'', from Latin ''fascia'', "band") is a charge on a coat of arms (or flag) that takes the form of a band running horizontally across the centre of the shield.Wo ...

indented between three martlets Or. Wotton, Thomas; Kimber, Edward; Johnson, Richard A. (1771) ''The Baronetage of England'', vol. 3, pp. 46–47

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Page, Gregory, 1st Baronet 1660s births 1720 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain British MPs 1708–1710 British MPs 1710–1713 British MPs 1715–1722 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies Whig (British political party) MPs