Sir Gregory Page, 1st Baronet (c. 1669 – 25 May 1720), of

Greenwich Greenwich ( , , ) is an List of areas of London, area in south-east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime hi ...

, Kent, was an English brewer, merchant and Whig politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

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 that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

, who owned a brewery in

Wapping Wapping () is an area in the borough of Tower Hamlets in London, England. It is in East London and part of the East End. Wapping is on the north bank of the River Thames between Tower Bridge to the west, and Shadwell to the east. This posit ...

. He was also an

Alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

of the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

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 for New Shoreham,

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

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. 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 (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, 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 Gregory may refer to: People and fictional characters * Gregory (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Gregory (surname), a surname *Gregory (The Walking Dead), fictional character from the walkin ...

. 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. The epitaph reads in part:

Heirs

The first baronet's second son, Thomas, married a sister of Viscount Howe 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 association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

, director 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 ...

and president of

Guy's Hospital Guy's Hospital is an NHS hospital founded by philanthropist Thomas Guy in 1721, located 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 Kin ...

). 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: Color * 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 ', Old French ', and -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... ', and charge on a coat of arms">Latin ' ...

indented between three

martlet A martlet in English heraldry is a mythical bird without feet that never roosts from the moment of its drop-birth until its death fall; martlets are proposed to be continuously on the wing. It is a compelling allegory for continuous effort, expr ...

s 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