Sir William Gage, 7th Baronet

Sir William Gage (1695 – 23 April 1744) of Firle Place was a British landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1722 to 1744.

[1] 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.

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:[3][4] 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.

W. Gage Firle July ye 16th 1725 Sir William's name appears in connection with a number of matches over the next few years.

[5] In August 1733, Sir William's team challenged one backed by Frederick, Prince of Wales at Moulsey Hurst for "a wager of 100 guineas".