Richard Lewis (c. 1627 – 1 October 1706) was an English landowner and 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 1660 and 1702.

Early life

Lewis was the third son of Sir Edward Lewis, a courtier, and his wife Lady Anne Sackville, daughter of

Robert Sackville, 2nd Earl of Dorset Robert Sackville, 2nd Earl of Dorset (1561–1609) was an English aristocrat and politician, with humanist and commercial interests. Life He was the eldest son of Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset, by Cecily, daughter of Sir John Baker. ...

and widow of Edward, Lord Beauchamp. His father was of The Van,

Glamorgan , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...

and

Edington Priory Edington Priory in Wiltshire, England, was founded by William Edington, the bishop of Winchester, in 1351 in his home village of Edington, about east of the town of Westbury. The priory church was consecrated in 1361 and continues in use as the ...

, Wiltshire and died in 1630. He was commissioner for assessment for

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

from January 1660 to 1680 and commissioner for militia for Wiltshire in March 1660.

Political career

In April 1660, he was elected

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 Westbury in the Convention Parliament. He was J.P. for Wiltshire from July 1660 to June 1688. In 1661 he was re-elected MP for Westbury in the

Cavalier Parliament The Cavalier Parliament of England lasted from 8 May 1661 until 24 January 1679. It was the longest English Parliament, and longer than any Great British or UK Parliament to date, enduring for nearly 18 years of the quarter-century reign of C ...

. He was lieutenant-colonel of foot militia for Wiltshire in 1661. From 1662 to 1663 he was commissioner for corporations. He was Deputy Lieutenant from 1668 to June 1688.History of Parliament Online - Richard Lewis
/ref> In 1674 Lewis succeeded to the family estates on the death of his nephew Edward Lewis and became a J.P. for Glamorgan until 1682. He was commissioner for assessment for Monmouthshire and Glamorgan from 1677 to 1680. He was r-elected MP for Westbury in the two elections of 1679. He became a colonel in the militia in 1681 and was sheriff from 1681 to 1682. In 1684 he was freeman of Devizes. In 1685 he was elected MP for Westbury again. He was J.P. for Glamorgan from 1685 to 1696 and commissioner for rebels’ estates in Wiltshire in 1686. He was displaced as freeman of Devizes by order-in-council in 1687. He was J.P. for Wiltshire and Deputy Lieutenant from October 1688 to 1696. He was commissioner for assessment for Monmouthshire, Wiltshire and Glamorgan from 1689 to 1690. He was re-elected MP for Westbury in 1689, 1690, 1695 and 1698. In 1696 he was removed from the lieutenancy for refusing the Association. He was J.P. for Glamorgan and Wiltshire from 1700 until his death. In February 1701 he was elected MP for Westbury again.

Death

Lewis died in 1706, in his "eighty-third year", and was buried at Corsham. Lewis married Mary James, daughter of Giles James of Sherston, Wiltshire and had three sons and two daughters. His son Thomas sat for various Hampshire and Wiltshire constituencies. His brother

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

was MP for Devizes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Richard 1627 births 1706 deaths English MPs 1660 English MPs 1661–1679 English MPs 1679 English MPs 1680–1681 English MPs 1685–1687 English MPs 1689–1690 English MPs 1690–1695 English MPs 1695–1698 English MPs 1698–1700 English MPs 1701