Sir Francis Sykes, 1st Baronet

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Sir Francis Sykes, 1st Baronet (1732–1804) was an English landowner, Member of Parliament and sometime Governor of Kasimbazar in India, being styled an English nabob by his peers.

Sir Francis was born in the West Riding of Yorkshire in 1732. He joined the British East India Company and amassed a fortune in Bengal, at the court of the Nawab. He became Governor of Kasimbazar and was good friends with both Warren Hastings and Lord Clive. Upon his return to England, he purchased Ackworth Park in Yorkshire and Basildon Park in Berkshire. He was for many years Member of Parliament for Shaftesbury and then for Wallingford, and acquired a baronetcy in 1781. Sir Francis lived at Basildon, although he died before the building was complete. His son, Francis William Sykes (1767-1804) was also member of parliament for Wallingford. Both Sir Francis and his son, Francis William, are commemorated in an unusual memorial at St Bartholomew's Church, Lower Basildon in Berkshire.

[edit] References

• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page

Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by William Chaffin Grove Ralph Payne	Member of Parliament for Shaftesbury with William Chaffin Grove 1771–1774 Thomas Rumbold 1774–1775 1771–1775	Succeeded by Thomas Rumbold Hans Winthrop Mortimer
Preceded by Hans Winthrop Mortimer George Rous	Member of Parliament for Shaftesbury with Sir Thomas Rumbold 1780–1781 Hans Winthrop Mortimer 1781–1784 1780–1784	Succeeded by Hans Winthrop Mortimer Adam Drummond
Preceded by Sir John Aubrey Chaloner Arcedeckne	Member of Parliament for Wallingford with Thomas Aubrey 1784–1790 Nathaniel Wraxall 1790–1794 Francis Sykes 1794–1796 The Lord Eardley 1796–1801 1784–1801	Succeeded by Parliament of the United Kingdom
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Parliament of Great Britain	Member of Parliament for Wallingford with The Lord Eardley 1801–1802 William Hughes 1802–1804 1801–1804	Succeeded by William Hughes George Galway Mills
Baronetage of Great Britain
Preceded by New creation	Baronet (of Basildon) 1781–1804	Succeeded by Francis William Sykes