Sir Francis Sykes, 1st Baronet

Sir Francis Sykes, 1st Baronet (1732–1804) was an English country landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1771 and 1804. He was sometime Governor of Cossimbazar in India, being styled an English nabob by his peers.

Career

Sykes was born in Thornhill in the West Riding of Yorkshire in 1732.[1]

Having joined the British East India Company, Sykes amassed a fortune in Bengal at the court of the Nawab. He became the Governor of Cossimbazar. During his time in India, he became good friends with both Warren Hastings and Lord Clive.

On his return to England, Sykes purchased Ackworth Park in Yorkshire and Basildon Park in Berkshire. He was for many years the Member of Parliament for Shaftesbury, and then for Wallingford. He acquired a baronetcy in 1781.[2] Sir Francis lived in Basildon, although he died in 1804, before his house there was completed. His son, Francis William Sykes (1767–1804) also served as the Member of Parliament for Wallingford.

Memorial

Both Sir Francis and his son are commemorated in an unusual memorial at St Bartholomew's Church, Lower Basildon, which reuses a 14th-century chest tomb in the chancel wall.[3] It was sculpted by John Flaxman.[4]

References
  1. "Person Page". thepeerage.com.
  2. "SYKES, Francis (1732-1804), of Basildon Park, Berks". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
  3. "National Monuments Record (St Bartholomews Church)".
  4. Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851 by Rupert Gunnis p.150


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