Francis, Sir Philip (redirected from Philip Francis (English politician))

Francis, Sir Philip, 1740–1818, British statesman and pamphleteer. He may have been the author known as Junius. He held several minor posts in government offices before being appointed to the council of Bengal in 1773. While in India he conducted a long, bitter feud with Warren Hastings, which culminated in a duel in 1780 in which Francis was wounded. He returned to England the following year, became a member of Parliament in 1784, and took an active part in the impeachment proceedings against Hastings. An advocate of various political reforms and the advancement of individual liberty, he contributed articles to periodicals and wrote numerous pamphlets.