Sir Richard Farington, 1st Baronet ( – 7 August 1719) was an English Whig politician who sat in the English House of Commons between 1681 and 1701 and in the

British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 mem ...

between 1708 and 1719.

Life

Farington was the son of Sir John Farington and his wife Ann May, daughter of John May, of Rawmere,

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

. He married Elizabeth Peachey, daughter of John Peachey, of Ertham by licence dated 24 May 1687.Burke, John. Burke, John Bernard. ''A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Extinct and Dormant Baronetcies of England'', page 192.
/ref> Farington was appointed Commissioner for assessment for Sussex for 1679 to 1780. He was returned as Member of Parliament for Chichester at a by-election on 4 January 1681 in succession to his father and returned again at the general election later that year. He sat until 1685. He was commissioner for inquiry into recusancy fines in 1687 and was appointed Justice of the Peace in May 1688. In 1690, Farington was appointed Commissioner for assessment for Sussex again. He was selected as High Sheriff of Sussex for the year 1696 to 1697. By 1697 he was captain of the militia foot of Chichester. In December 1697 he was created a baronet, of Chichester in the County of Sussex. He was returned as MP for Chichester at the

1698 English general election After the conclusion of the 1698 English general election the government led by the Whig Junto believed it had held its ground against the opposition. Over the previous few years, divisions had emerged within the Whig party between the 'court' sup ...

, did not stand in the first general election of 1701 and was defeated in the second general election of the year. He was re-elected MP for Chichester at the

1708 British general election The 1708 British general election was the first general election to be held after the Acts of Union had united the Parliaments of England and Scotland. The election saw the Whigs finally gain a majority in the House of Commons, and by November ...

. He was returned again at the

1710 British general election The 1710 British general election produced a landslide victory for the Tories. The election came in the wake of the prosecution of Henry Sacheverell, which had led to the collapse of the previous government led by Godolphin and the Whig Junto. ...

, but was defeated at the

1713 British general election The 1713 British general election produced further gains for the governing Tory party. Since 1710 Robert Harley had led a government appointed after the downfall of the Whig Junto, attempting to pursue a moderate and non-controversial policy, b ...

. He was returned as a Whig MP for Chichester 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 ...

and voted with the government until his death. Farington died at Bath in August 1719. He had three sons who all died in his lifetime, and the baronetcy became extinct.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Farington, Richard 1719 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of England Year of birth uncertain High Sheriffs of Sussex Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1708–1710 British MPs 1710–1713 British MPs 1715–1722 English MPs 1681 English MPs 1698–1700