Sir Basil Firebrace, 1st Baronet

Sir Basil Firebrace, 1st Baronet (1652 – 7 May 1724) was a supplier of wines to the royal household, Sheriff of London, and MP for Chippenham, Wiltshire, from 1690 to 1692. He was prosecuted for fraud and bribery, acquitted, and created a baronet in 1698.

Early life

Firebrace was the second son of Sir Henry Firebrace, a courtier to both Charles I and Charles II, and Elizabeth Dowell; he was born in 1652.^[1]

Career

Firebrace became a vintner and supplier of wines to the royal household.^[2] He was Sheriff of London in 1687, and knighted; he was also appointed Colonel of the Orange Regiment of the London militia.^[1] He was admitted into the Worshipful Company of Vintners the following year and became an Alderman for Billingsgate.^[3][4]

He was elected MP for Chippenham as a Tory on 9 December 1690, but the election was declared void almost a year later, on 1 December 1691, and was re-run on 14 December. He again won but an election petition unseated him in favour of Thomas Tollemache on 22 January 1692.^[5] In 1694 he purchased West Lodge, Enfield Chase, where he resided until 1716.^[6]

Contemporary pamphlet detailing Parliamentary proceedings against Firebrace and others

Firebrace also became a prominent figure in the East India Company^[7] and was imprisoned in the Tower of London by Parliament for bribery and fraud in relation to its activities.^[8][9] In April 1695 the House of Lords ordered that he be kept in "close confinement", having no contact with other prisoners.^[10] He was perhaps more of a go-between than a principal,^[11] and although criticised for his entrepreneurialism, he was eventually acquitted of all charges.^[12]

He was appointed 1st Baronet Firebrace in 1698 by King William III.,^[13] was bankrupted in 1701 and again imprisoned, for stabbing a creditor.^[2]

Marriage and family

He married Elizabeth, the daughter of merchant Thomas Hough on 7 September 1671, at St Margaret's, Westminster.^[1]

They produced five children, two of whom, Basil and Thomas, died in infancy.^[6] Of the survivors, Hester (c. 1675- c.1725) married Basil Feilding, 4th Earl of Denbigh, Charles (1680–1727) later inherited the baronetcy^[13] and their final child, George, was born in 1681.^[6]

Firebrace died on 7 May 1724;^[2] W. H. Auden was among his descendants.^[14]

Notes

1. "Fabian – Fyge". British History Online. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
2. Wright, Stephen (September 2004). Firebrace, Sir Henry (1619/20)-1691. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
3. Beaven 1908, pp. 168–195
4. Beaven 1908, pp. 75–119
5. "THE HOUSE OF COMMONS CONSTITUENCIES BEGINNING WITH "C"". www.leighrayment.com. Retrieved 4 May 2010.
6. "Basil Firebrace b. 1652 Westminster, London, England d. 7 May 1724". www.halhed.com. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
7. Hayton, David; Eveline Cruickshanks; Stuart Handley (2002). The House of Commons, 1690–1715. 1. Cambridge University Press. p. 12. Retrieved 4 May 2010. line feed character in |publisher= at position 21 (help)
8. West Lodge
9. "An exact collection of the debates and proceedings in Parliament,[CORRUPTION.] – Bernard J Shapero Rare Books". www.shapero.com. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
10. "House of Lords Journal Volume 15 – 25 April 1695". www.british-history.ac.uk. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
11. http://www.kouroo.info/kouroo/transclusions/18/31/EminentBritishStatesmen_EarlOfDanby.pdf
12. "Online Library of Liberty – BOOK I.: 1527–1707. – The History of British India, vol. 1". oll.libertyfund.org. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
13. Lundy, Darryl. "thePeerage.com – Person Page 2627". thepeerage.com. Retrieved 4 May 2010.
14. "Sir Basil Firebrace Bt MP – I904 – Individual Information – PhpGedView". auden.stanford.edu. Retrieved 4 May 2010.

References

• Beaven, Alfred P. (1908). The Aldermen of the City of London. British History Online.
• Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990,
• Leigh Rayment's list of baronets