Richard, 2nd Baron Edgcumbe, by Joshua Reynolds

Richard Edgcumbe, 2nd Baron Edgcumbe PC (2 August 1716 – 10 May 1761) was a British nobleman and politician. The eldest surviving son of

Richard Edgcumbe, 1st Baron Edgcumbe Richard Edgcumbe, 1st Baron Edgcumbe, (23 April 168022 November 1758) of Mount Edgcumbe in Cornwall, was an English Whig politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons from 1701 until 1742 when he was raised to the peerage as ...

and his wife Matilda Furnese, he was educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England * Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States * Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...

from 1725 to 1732. Through his father's interest in

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

and

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, he was returned as

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

Plympton Erle Plympton is a suburb of the city of Plymouth in Devon, England. It is in origin an ancient stannary town. It was an important trading centre for locally mined tin, and a seaport before the River Plym silted up and trade moved down river to Pl ...

at a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

in 1742 as a Government supporter. Edgcumbe was a heavy gambler, losing "daily twenty guineas" at

White's White's is a gentlemen's club in St James's, London. Founded in 1693 as a hot chocolate shop in Mayfair, it is the oldest gentleman's club in London. It moved to its current premises on St James's Street in 1778. Status White's is the oldes ...

. He was given a secret service pension of £500 a year by

Henry Pelham Henry Pelham (25 September 1694 – 6 March 1754) was a British Whig statesman who served as 3rd Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1743 until his death in 1754. He was the younger brother of Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle, who ...

to provide for him. Meanwhile, he was made a capital burgess of

Lostwithiel Lostwithiel (; kw, Lostwydhyel) is a civil parish and small town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom at the head of the estuary of the River Fowey. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 2,739, increasing to 2,899 at the 2011 c ...

in 1743 and served as mayor the next year. He switched his seat to

in 1747. Dissatisfied with subsisting on Government charity, he unsuccessfully made an application to Pelham for employment, rather than a pension, in 1752. He was eventually made a Lord of Trade in 1754, when he was returned for Penryn and the next year, a

Lord of the Admiralty This is a list of Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty (incomplete before the Restoration, 1660). The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty were the members of The Board of Admiralty, which exercised the office of Lord High Admiral when it was n ...

instead, serving for a year. In 1756, he was appointed

Comptroller of the Household The Comptroller of the Household is an ancient position in the British royal household, nominally the second-ranking member of the Lord Steward's department after the Treasurer of the Household. The Comptroller was an ''ex officio'' member of t ...

and was again mayor of Lostwithiel, being appointed to the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

on 19 November. Succeeding his father in 1758, he was appointed

Lord Lieutenant of Cornwall This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Cornwall. Since 1742, all the Lords Lieutenant have also been Custos Rotulorum of Cornwall. *John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford 1552–1554 *John Bourchier, 2nd Earl of Bath 1556–? ...

in 1759 and

recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...

. He died childless in 1761 and was succeeded by his brother.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edgcumbe, Richard Edgcumbe, 2nd Baron 1716 births 1761 deaths Barons Edgcumbe British MPs 1741–1747 British MPs 1747–1754 British MPs 1754–1761 Lord-Lieutenants of Cornwall Lords of the Admiralty Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Plympton Erle Whig (British political party) MPs Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for constituencies in Cornwall People educated at Eton College