Francis Eyre (1722–1797) was a British lawyer and 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 1774 and 1784.

Early years

Eyre was the only surviving son of Francis Eyre, a shoemaker of

Truro Truro (; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England; it is the southernmost city in the United Kingdom, just under west-south-west of Charing Cross in London. It is Cornwall's county town, s ...

, and his wife Elizabeth Pascoe.and was baptized on. 28 June 1722. He was articled to an attorney at Truro in 1737 and qualified in 1744. He moved to London where he dealt with cases relating to trade and plantations and included

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

among his clients. He became part owner of several ships and ran privateers during the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

. With the profits, he invested in estates in Gloucester and Dorset at home and overseas in Jamaica. He married Sarah Prescott,

Political career

Eyre was seeking a seat in parliament and in the mid 1760s became involved in a complicated and costly situation at Morpeth. The Carlisle interest was restricting the creation of freemen to protect their control of the borough. The corporation of Morpeth invited Eyre to oppose the Carlisle interest and he instituted legal proceedings at his own expense to address this. At the 1768 general election a compromise was reached, which allowed Eyre to be returned with the Carlisle candidate Peter Beckford. However at the last minute Sir Matthew White Ridley put himself forward and with Beckford was declared elected. After petitioning unsuccessfully, Eyre started to prepare for the next election. At the 1774 general election Carlisle's candidates were declared elected but the returning officer was intimidated by Eyre's supporters and agreed to return Eyre as Member of Parliament instead of Hon. William Byron. On 27 January 1775 Eyre was unseated. Although Byron died in June 1776 Eyre received little encouragement from the corporation and was getting into financial difficulties so he withdrew from the contest. He was involved in litigation regarding his West Indian estates and was forced to sell his Gloucestershire estate at Colesbourne. From 1777 Eyre was a frequent defendant in pleas of debts, and was imprisoned in the Marshalsea prison for debt in 1777 and 1778.Chantal Stebbings, ''Law Reporting in Britain'', A&C Black, 1 Jul 1995 - History - 206 pages (p. 166)
/ref> Prior to the general election of 1780 Eyre heard that Charles Anderson Pelham, patron of Great Grimsby was undecided on his candidate, so he rode to Grimsby and obtained Pelham's support. He was returned unopposed as MP for Great Grimsby at the 1780 general election. He did not stand again in 1784.

Last years

Eyre eventually sold all his estates as his fortunes declined. He died on 13 March 1797.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eyre, Francis 1722 births 1797 deaths People from Truro English solicitors British MPs 1774–1780 British MPs 1780–1784 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Great Grimsby