biography text
In 1605 Giles Eyre, of an ancient Wiltshire family, bought the estate of Brickworth, near the borough of Downton, in which he and his descendants developed a strong interest. His great-grandson John Eyre, a Whig lawyer, sat for Downton in eight Parliaments till his death, 2 Nov. 1715, commemorated as ‘a lover of liberty and independence, [who] served his country at his own expense and not ... himself at the expense of his country’.1Wilts. N. & Q. v. 97-101.