DREWE, Francis (c.1674-1734), of Exeter, and the Grange, Broadhembury, Devon

Drewe’s father, a member of the cathedral chapter at Exeter, had inherited the Grange in 1710 after the deaths of his two elder brothers. He was a staunch High Churchman, who was connected with George Granville*, the leader of the Cornish Tories and had campaigned in Exeter in the 1705 election on behalf of the Tackers Sir Edward Seymour, 4th Bt.*, and John Snell I*. Francis Drewe himself had begun his career as a barrister in the city. His father’s influence and his own financial assistance to the corporation presumably played a key part in his being returned unopposed in 1713. An inactive Member in his first Parliament, he was given leave of absence for a month on 10 May 1714. The Worsley list described him as a Tory and he continued to represent Exeter in the Tory interest until shortly before his death on 13 Sept. 1734. Ibid. 212; EHR, xlv. 26–72; HMC Exeter, 88; Gent. Mag. 1734, p. 511.