Sir John Eyles, 2nd Baronet (1683 – 11 March 1745) of
Gidea Hall
Gidea Hall was a manor house in Gidea Park, the historic parish and Royal liberty of Havering-atte-Bower, whose former area today is part of the north-eastern extremity of Greater London.
The first record of Gidea Hall is in 1250, and by 1410 ...
in
Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...
, was a British financier and 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 1713 to 1734. He was
Lord Mayor of London
The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional powe ...
in 1726. He served as a Director 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 ...
1710-14 and again 1717-21 and was appointed a sub-governor of the
South Sea Company
The South Sea Company (officially The Governor and Company of the merchants of Great Britain, trading to the South Seas and other parts of America, and for the encouragement of the Fishery) was a British joint-stock company founded in Ja ...
in 1721.
Origins
Eyles was the second but eldest surviving son of
Sir Francis Eyles, 1st Baronet
Sir Francis Eyles, 1st Baronet (died 24 May 1716) was an English merchant who was Governor of the Bank of England and a baronet in the Baronetage of Great Britain.
Biography
He was the son of John Eyles, a Wiltshire wool-stapler, and the young ...
by his wife Elizabeth Ayley, a daughter Richard Ayley, a merchant in 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 ...
. His younger brother was
Joseph Eyles
Sir Joseph Eyles (c. 1690–8 February 1740), of Bishopsgate in the City of London, was an English merchant, financier and Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1722 to 1740.
Origins
He was the younger son of Sir Francis Eyles ...
, MP.
Career
Eyles was a Director 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 ...
from 1710 to 1714. He was elected as 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
Chippenham
Chippenham is a market town
A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village ...
at the
1713 general election.
From 1715 to 1717 he was a director of the
Bank of England
The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government of ...
. He was elected MP for Chippenham again at the
1715 general election and voted consistently with the government. He succeeded to his father's
baronetcy
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 24 May 1716 and became Master of the Haberdashers Company and
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
Vintry
Vintry is one of the 25 wards of the City of London. Located within it is the City end of Southwark Bridge and, adjacent to that, the hall of the Worshipful Company of Vintners, the City livery company for the wine trade.
The ward's boundary is ...
on 19 June 1716.
Also in 1716, he was appointed one of the commissioners to oversee estates forfeited to the Crown during the unsuccessful
Jacobite rising of 1715
The Jacobite rising of 1715 ( gd, Bliadhna Sheumais ;
or 'the Fifteen') was the attempt by James Edward Stuart (the Old Pretender) to regain the thrones of England, Ireland and Scotland for the exiled Stuarts
The House of Stuart, ori ...
, a post he held until 1725.
From 1717 to 1721 Eyles served another term as Director of the East India Company. He was appointed
Sheriff of London
Two sheriffs are elected annually for the City of London by the Liverymen of the City livery company, livery companies. Today's sheriffs have only nominal duties, but the historical officeholders had important judicial responsibilities. They have ...
for 1720.
[ He was also appointed a sub-governor of the ]South Sea Company
The South Sea Company (officially The Governor and Company of the merchants of Great Britain, trading to the South Seas and other parts of America, and for the encouragement of the Fishery) was a British joint-stock company founded in Ja ...
in February 1721 in the aftermath of the South Sea Bubble. At the 1722 general election he was returned unopposed at Chippenham. He was knighted in December 1724 and served as Lord Mayor of London
The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional powe ...
for the year 1726 to 1727. At the 1727 general election he was elected MP for 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 ...
.[
At the 1734 general election Eyles did not stand for the City of London and was defeated at Chippenham.][ He became alderman for ]Bridge Without
Bridge Without was a historical ward of the City of London situated to the south of the River Thames, which existed between 1550 and 1899. The area of the Bridge Without ward today forms part of the London Borough of Southwark. It was so-called to ...
(a ward previously represented by his father) from 22 July 1737.[ He was also appointed president of St. Thomas's Hospital in 1737, and Joint ]Postmaster-General
A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a Ministry (government department), ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. The practice of having ...
in 1739, holding both posts for the rest of his life.[
]
Gidea Hall
Eyles purchased the estate of Gidea Hall
Gidea Hall was a manor house in Gidea Park, the historic parish and Royal liberty of Havering-atte-Bower, whose former area today is part of the north-eastern extremity of Greater London.
The first record of Gidea Hall is in 1250, and by 1410 ...
, in Havering
The London Borough of Havering () in East London, England, forms part of Outer London. It has a population of 259,552 inhabitants; the principal town is Romford, while other communities are Hornchurch, Upminster, Collier Row and Rainham, London ...
, demolished the old mansion there in 1720, and built a new "elegant" house.[Waylen, James; Goddard, E. H]
''A History, Military and Municipal of the Ancient Borough of the Devizes''
London: Longman, Brown & co., 1859, p. 372.
In 1731, Eyles was the dedicatee of George Lillo
George Lillo (3 February 1691 – 4 September 1739) was an English playwright and tragedian. He was also a jeweller in London. He produced his first stage work, ''Silvia, or The Country Burial'', in 1730, and a year later his most famous play, ...
's tragedy The London Merchant
''The London Merchant (Or The History Of George Barnwell)'' is playwright George Lillo's most famous work. A tragedy that follows the downfall of a young apprentice due to his association with a prostitute, it is remarkable for its use of mid ...
, a play later excerpted in French by Abbé Prévost
Antoine François Prévost d'Exiles ( , , ; 1 April 169725 November 1763), usually known simply as the Abbé Prévost, was a French priest, author, and novelist.
Life and works
He was born at Hesdin, Artois, and first appears with the full nam ...
who had served as Sir John's secretary and tutor to his son Francis
Francis may refer to:
People
*Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome
*Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters
*Francis (surname)
Places
* Rural M ...
.
Marriage and issue
He married Mary Haskin Styles (d.1735), the daughter of his first cousin Sarah Eyles (daughter of Sir John Eyles, elder brother of the first baronet.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. 22) by her husband Joseph Haskin Styles. Mary died on 14 November 1735, and was buried at St Helen's Bishopsgate
St Helen's Bishopsgate is an Anglican church in London. It is located in Great St Helen's, off Bishopsgate.
It is the largest surviving parish church in the City of London. Several notable figures are buried there, and it contains more monumen ...
9 days later. By his wife he had issue one son and one daughter, including:
* Sir Francis Haskins Eyles-Stiles, 3rd Baronet (d.1762), eldest son and heir.
Death
He died on 11 March 1745.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eyles, Sir John, 2nd Baronet
1683 births
1745 deaths
Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies
Sheriffs of the City of London
18th-century lord mayors of London
Knights Bachelor
Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain
British MPs 1713–1715
British MPs 1715–1722
British MPs 1722–1727
British MPs 1727–1734
United Kingdom Postmasters General