Sir William Gage, 7th Baronet
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Sir William Gage, 7th Baronet | |
| Born | 1695 Firle, East Sussex, England |
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| Died | 23 April 1744 England |
|
| Batting style | unknown hand | |
| Bowling style | underarm | |
| Role | patron and team captain | |
| Domestic team information | ||
| Years | Team | |
| c.1720 to c.1740 | Sussex | |
| Career statistics | ||
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| Source: H T Waghorn, 14 July 2009 | ||
Sir William Gage, 7th Baronet KB (1695 – 23 April 1744) was the MP for Seaford from 1722 until his death.
Sir William introduced greengages into Great Britain from France. He was an early patron of cricket, in association with his friend Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond.
The greengage is named after Sir William, who is credited with introducing it to Great Britain from ca.1724–25 when he obtained a supply from France.
The Gage family were Roman Catholic recusants but Sir William chose to conform to the established Church so that he could become an MP in 1722. His seat was the former constituency of Seaford and he retained his membership until his death in 1744.
Sir William was a keen cricketer and patron who led and backed Sussex county cricket teams. One of his teams has been credited with the earliest known innings victory. He was a close friend of Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond and it seems they had organised a number of cricket matches before 1725 when their involvement first becomes clear through a surviving letter that Gage wrote to Richmond in humorous terms about cricket:
My Lord Duke,
I received this moment your Grace's letter and am extremely happy your Grace intends us ye honour of making one a Tuesday, and will without fail bring a gentleman with me to play against you, One that has played very seldom for these several years.
I am in great affliction with being shamefully beaten Yesterday, the first match I played this year. However I will muster up all my courage against Tuesday's engagement. I will trouble your Grace with nothing more than that I wish you Success in everything except ye Cricket Match and that I am etc. etc.
W. Gage
Firle July ye 16th 1725
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