Sir Richard Edgcumbe (13 February 1640 – 3 April 1688) was an English politician. He was the eldest son of Piers Edgcumbe of

Mount Edgcumbe House Mount Edgcumbe House is a stately home in south-east Cornwall and is a Grade II listed building, whilst its gardens and parkland are listed as Grade I in the Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England. Mount Edgcumbe ...

and

Cotehele Cotehele ( kw, Kosheyl) is a medieval house with Tudor additions, situated in the parish of Calstock in the east of Cornwall, England, and now belonging to the National Trust. It is a rambling granite and slate-stone manor house on the banks ...

Calstock Calstock ( kw, Kalstok) is a civil parish and a large village in south east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, on the border with Devon. The village is situated on the River Tamar south west of Tavistock and north of Plymouth. The parish had ...

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 ...

, and his wife, Mary, daughter of Sir John Glanville of Broad Hinton, Wiltshire. He was the

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 Launceston from 19 March 1661 to 14 February 1679 and MP for

from 1679 to 1681. He was appointed Knight of the Order of the Bath (KB) in 1661 in order to attend the coronation of Charles II. He held a number of public appointments, namely Commissioner for Assessment for Cornwall (1663–1680), for

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 ...

(1673–1680) and for

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

(1679–1680), Deputy Governor (1670–1672), Assistant Governor (1678–death) and Deputy-Lieutenant of Cornwall (1670–death) and of Devon (1676–death) and Commissioner for Recusants for Cornwall (1675). He was High Sheriff of Cornwall in 1685. He was a Member of the

Society of Mines Royal The Society of the Mines Royal was one of two English mining monopoly companies incorporated by royal charter in 1568, the other being the Company of Mineral and Battery Works. History On 28 May 1568, Elizabeth I established the Society by let ...

(1669). He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in November 1676 but expelled in 1685. He died aged 48 leaving his 2 sons and 6 daughters. He had married Anne, daughter of

Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of Sandwich Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of Sandwich, Order of the Garter, KG Privy Council of England, PC Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS Justice of the Peace, JP (27 July 162528 May 1672) was an English military officer, politician and diplomat, who fought f ...

and Jemima Crewe. Their son Richard Edgcumbe was created Baron Edgcumbe. They also had a daughter Anne who married Henry Pyne, a wealthy landowner of an established

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

family. Richard's widow remarried Christopher Montagu and died in 1729. Her mother – the much loved "my lady" of

Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys (; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English diarist and naval administrator. He served as administrator of the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament and is most famous for the diary he kept for a decade. Pepys had no mariti ...

– spent her last years at Mount Edgecumbe and is buried there. In his ''Tangier Journal'' Pepys records a visit to Lady Edgcumbe on 22 August 1679: "She received me extremely kindly. Visited her house and garden and park, a most beautiful place".

References

1640 births 1688 deaths Politicians from Cornwall High Sheriffs of Cornwall Fellows of the Royal Society Knights of the Bath Members of the pre-1707 English Parliament for constituencies in Cornwall English MPs 1661–1679 English MPs 1679 English MPs 1680–1681 {{17thC-England-MP-stub