Name Sir Eyles, | Died 1745 | |
Siblings Sir Francis Eyles, 1st Baronet | ||
Sir John Eyles, 2nd Baronet (1683 – 11 March 1745) of Gidea Hall, Essex, was a British financier.
He was the second but eldest surviving son of Sir Francis Eyles, 1st Baronet, and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of London merchant Richard Ayley.
He served as a director of the Bank of England, South Sea Company, and East India Company, and served on the commission appointed to oversee estates forfeited to the Crown during the unsuccessful Jacobite rising of 1715. He succeeded to his father's baronetcy in 1716. He was Alderman of Vintry, 19 June 1716, and subsequently of Bridge Without (a ward previously represented by his father) from 22 July 1737 until his death. He was appointed Sheriff of London for 1720 and elected Lord Mayor of London for 1726.
He was Member of Parliament in the Parliament of Great Britain for Chippenham from 1713 to 1727 and for the City of London from 1727 to 1734, and was Joint Postmaster-General from 1739 to 1744.
He purchased the estate of Gidea Hall, in Havering, demolished the old mansion there, and built a new "elegant" house. He married his cousin, Mary Haskin Styles, the daughter of Joseph Haskin Stiles by Sarah Eyles, the daughter of Sir John Eyles, elder brother of the first baronet. Together they had two children, a boy and a girl.
In 1731 he was the dedicatee of George Lillo's tragedy The London Merchant, a play later excerpted in French by Abbe Prevost who had served as Sir John's secretary and tutor to his son Francis.
His wife died on 14 November 1735, and was buried at St Helen's Bishopsgate 9 days later. He died on 11 March 1745, and was succeeded by his only son, Francis.