Sir Richard Weston (1579–1658) was an

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judge 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. ...

variously between 1614 and 1642. He fought on the

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governme ...

side for King Charles during the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

. Weston was the son of Ralph Weston of

Rugeley Rugeley ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Cannock Chase District in Staffordshire, England. It lies on the north-eastern edge of Cannock Chase next to the River Trent; it is situated north of Lichfield, south-east of Stafford, nort ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

and his wife Ann Smith. He was educated at

Exeter College, Oxford Exeter College (in full: The Rector and Scholars of Exeter College in the University of Oxford) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England and the fourth-oldest college of the un ...

and was then

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in 1607, becoming a bencher in 1626. Weston became

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 ...

(MP) for

Lichfield Lichfield () is a cathedral city and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated roughly south-east of the county town of Stafford, south-east of Rugeley, north-east of Walsall, north-west of Tamworth and south-west of B ...

in 1614 and was re-elected in 1622. He was appointed judge on the Welsh circuit in 1632 and became serjeant at law in 1632/33. He became puisne

Baron of the Exchequer The Barons of the Exchequer, or ''barones scaccarii'', were the judges of the English court known as the Exchequer of Pleas. The Barons consisted of a Chief Baron of the Exchequer and several puisne (''inferior'') barons. When Robert Shute was a ...

in 1634 and was knighted in 1635. He built Hagley Hall, Rugeley. Weston was impeached in 1641 for his arguments in favour of

ship money Ship money was a tax of medieval origin levied intermittently in the Kingdom of England until the middle of the 17th century. Assessed typically on the inhabitants of coastal areas of England, it was one of several taxes that English monarchs co ...

. He was not tried, but joined the army of King Charles with his eldest son Richard in August 1642. In September 1643, Weston was at Shrewsbury with his brother Simon, a draper who supplied considerable quantities of clothing to the King's forces. He received a summons from the King to

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

on 30 September.National Archives Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Archive Service, Staffordshire Record Office - Landor Family D(W)1885/4/6/5 1643
/ref> By vote of the House of Commons, Sir Richard was disabled from acting as judge on 24 October 1645. He was at Oxford when the garrison surrendered in 1646, and he received a Safe-Conduct from

Thomas Fairfax Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron (17 January 161212 November 1671), also known as Sir Thomas Fairfax, was an English politician, general and Parliamentary commander-in-chief during the English Civil War. An adept and talented command ...

and signed by him. Weston married Ann Barbour, daughter of Richard Barbour of Hilderstone Staffs. He died at

and was buried on 4 March 1658.Rugeley Parish Register (The DNB entry may be confusing his date of death with his son or another Richard Weston) Weston's son

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Frankish language, Old Frankish and is a Compound (linguistics), compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' an ...

was also an MP, who in April 1640 was elected MP for

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about north of Wolverhampton, south of Stoke-on-Trent and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 70,145 in t ...

for the

Short Parliament The Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that was summoned by King Charles I of England on the 20th of February 1640 and sat from 13th of April to the 5th of May 1640. It was so called because of its short life of only three weeks. Aft ...

. He was re-elected MP for Stafford in November 1640 for the

Long Parliament The Long Parliament was an English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened for only three weeks during the spring of 1640 after an 11-year parliamentary absence. In Septem ...

. He was a Royalist soldier and fled to the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

after the defeat at Oxford with

Ralph Sneyd Ralph Sneyd (1564 – 7 April 1643) was an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1640 to 1642. He was a colonel in the Royalist army in the English Civil War and was killed in action on the Isle of Man. Sneyd wa ...

and James Rugeley where they were welcomed by the King and were believed to be present when

Lord Derby Edward George Geoffrey Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, (29 March 1799 – 23 October 1869, known before 1834 as Edward Stanley, and from 1834 to 1851 as Lord Stanley) was a British statesman, three-time Prime Minister of the United Kingdom ...

responded to

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

's terms. The younger Richard Weston was taken prisoner at Colchester in July 1648 and was killed in the King's service in the Isle of Man in 1652.

References

* Dictionary of National Biography (included under his third cousin

Richard Weston, 1st Earl of Portland Richard Weston, 1st Earl of Portland, KG (1 March 157713 March 1634/1635), was Chancellor of the Exchequer and later Lord Treasurer of England under James I and Charles I, being one of the most influential figures in the early years of Char ...

) {{DEFAULTSORT:Weston, Richard 1579 births 1652 deaths Members of the Inner Temple Cavaliers Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford 17th-century English judges People from Rugeley English MPs 1621–1622