Sir Gregory Page, 2nd Baronet facts for kids

Sir Gregory Page (born around 1695, died 1775) was an important English art collector and landowner. He held the title of baronet, which is a special inherited title, like a knight, but it can be passed down in the family.

Early Life and Family

Sir Gregory Page was the oldest son of Sir Gregory Page, the first Baronet. His mother was Mary Trotman. Like his father, he became a director of the East India Company. This company was very powerful and traded goods from places like India.

In 1717, Sir Gregory started buying more land. He bought property in Kent and London. He became the 2nd Baronet when his father died on May 25, 1720.

He married Martha Kenward on May 26, 1721. She was from Yalding, Kent. They did not have any children. Martha passed away on September 30, 1767, and was buried in Greenwich.

Grand Homes and Estates

Sir Gregory Page used a lot of his money to buy even more land. He bought property especially in what was then north-west Kent. In 1723, he built a large house in the Westcombe Park area. This was just north of Blackheath.

Later, he preferred to live in a huge mansion called Wricklemarsh. This grand house was also nearby. A famous architect named John James designed it. It cost a lot of money to build, about £90,000.

Wricklemarsh stood in a park that was about 250 acres (100 hectares). This land used to belong to Sir John Morden. A book called Vitruvius Britannicus showed pictures of the house in 1739.

People at the time said Wricklemarsh was amazing. They described it as:

• "one of the finest houses in England"
• "resembling a royal palace"
• "gardens are laid out in the most elegant manner"
• "paintings and furniture are surprisingly fine"
• "rooms are hung with green or crimson silk damask"
• "cornices, door-cases and chair-frames are all carved and gilt"
• "chimney pieces are all of fine polished marble"

After Sir Gregory died, the land around Wricklemarsh was sold. It became part of the Blackheath Park housing area. The mansion itself was taken apart and torn down between 1783 and 1800.

Sir Gregory also bought other properties. In 1724, he bought Battlesden Manor in Bedfordshire. In 1733, he bought an old house called Well Hall Place in Eltham. He tore it down and built a new mansion called Page House. This house was later torn down in 1931.

Interests and Collections

Sir Gregory Page was interested in many things. He studied languages and was good at engineering. He also liked construction, building ships, and surveying land. Most of all, he loved collecting art and building grand homes.

His Wricklemarsh mansion was filled with beautiful furniture. It also held his amazing art collection. He owned paintings by famous artists like:

• Rubens
• van Dyck
• Claude
• Poussin
• Veronese
• Salvator Rosa
• Nicolaes Berchem
• Adriaen van der Werff

Today, Sir John Soane's Museum has eight wooden chairs that belonged to Sir Gregory. These chairs have his family's special symbols on them.

Sir Gregory also started a club for gentlemen called the Free and Easy Society. Special Chinese bowls were made for this club around 1755.

He also helped create a new charity in London. This charity was called the Foundling Hospital. It was started to help abandoned children in the city. Sir Gregory was one of the first leaders of this charity in 1739.

Later Life and Legacy

Sir Gregory Page passed away in 1775. He was buried in the family tomb at St Alfege's Church, Greenwich, on August 14, 1775.

He left his large fortune to his great-nephew, Sir Gregory Turner. Sir Gregory Turner then added 'Page' to his name. He became Sir Gregory Page-Turner, the 3rd Baronet of Ambrosden, Oxfordshire.