Richard Coffin (1684–1766) of

Portledge Portledge Manor is an English manor house in the parish of Alwington, southwest of Bideford, Devon. It and the land surrounding it belonged to the Coffin family, a noble family of Norman origin, for almost 1000 years. History The house sits on ...

, near Bideford, Devon was a British Whig politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

between 1715 and 1734. Portledge House Alwington Devon

Coffin was baptized on. 23 July 1684, the fourth but only surviving son of Richard Coffin of Portledge and his third wife Anne Prideaux, daughter of Edmund Prideaux of Padstow, Cornwall. He succeeded his elder brother to the Portledge estate in 1703. CoffinOfMonkleighArms

Coffin was returned as a Whig

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Camelford Camelford ( kw, Reskammel) is a town and civil parish in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, situated in the River Camel valley northwest of Bodmin Moor. The town is approximately ten miles (16 km) north of Bodmin and is governed by ...

at the

1715 British general election The 1715 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 5th Parliament of Great Britain to be held, after the 1707 merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. In October 1714, soon afte ...

. He voted against the septennial bill, for the repeal of the Occasional Conformity and Schism Acts, and against the

Peerage Bill {{short description, Proposed British law of 1719 The Peerage Bill was a 1719 measure proposed by the British Whigs (British political party), Whig government led by James Stanhope, 1st Earl Stanhope and Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland whic ...

. At the

1722 British general election The 1722 British general election elected members to serve in the House of Commons of the 6th Parliament of Great Britain. This was the fifth such election since the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. Tha ...

he stood unsuccessfully at

Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town in North Devon, England, at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool and won great wealth. Later it imported Irish wool, bu ...

, but he was returned for it unopposed at the

1727 British general election The 1727 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 7th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election was trigg ...

on the interest of his friend John Rolle. He continued to vote against the Administration. He did not stand again in

1734 Events January– March * January 8 – Salzburgers, Lutherans who were expelled by the Roman Catholic Bishop of Salzburg, Austria, in October 1731, set sail for the British Colony of Province of Georgia, Georgia in North America ...

. Coffin died unmarried late in 1766 and was buried on 3 December 1766. Ne left Portledge to Richard and Robert Bennett, sons of his sister Honour.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coffin, Richard 1684 births 1766 deaths Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Barnstaple British MPs 1715–1722 British MPs 1727–1734 British MPs 1754–1761