Edward Henry Rich, 9th Baron Rich, 7th Earl of Warwick and 4th Earl of Holland (January 1698 – 16 August 1721), of Holland House,

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensington Garden ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

, was an English

peer Peer may refer to: Sociology * Peer, an equal in age, education or social class; see Peer group * Peer, a member of the peerage; related to the term "peer of the realm" Computing * Peer, one of several functional units in the same layer of a ne ...

and member of the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminst ...

, styled Lord Rich until 1701 He is chiefly remembered as the stepson of the celebrated writer

Joseph Addison Joseph Addison (1 May 1672 – 17 June 1719) was an English essayist, poet, playwright and politician. He was the eldest son of The Reverend Lancelot Addison. His name is usually remembered alongside that of his long-standing friend Richar ...

. He was the only son of Edward Rich, 6th Earl of Warwick and his wife Charlotte Myddelton, only child of

Sir Thomas Myddelton, 2nd Baronet Sir Thomas Myddelton, 2nd Baronet (ca. 1651 – 5 February 1684) was a Welsh politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1679 and 1681. Myddelton was the eldest son of Sir Thomas Myddelton, 1st Baronet and his first wife Mary Cholmondle ...

. After his father's death, Charlotte in 1716 remarried the writer

, who had been her son's tutor. Edward and Addison are said to have quarrelled; according to a well-known story they did not meet for years until Addison was dying, when he invited his stepson to "see how a Christian dies". In 1718, he was appointed a

Gentleman of the Bedchamber Gentleman of the Bedchamber was a title in the royal household of the Kingdom of England from the 11th century, later used also in the Kingdom of Great Britain. A Lord of the Bedchamber was a courtier in the Royal Households of the United Kingdo ...

to George, Prince of Wales, and on 19 May 1719, he became a Gentleman of the Bedchamber to

George I George I or 1 may refer to: People * Patriarch George I of Alexandria (fl. 621–631) * George I of Constantinople (d. 686) * George I of Antioch (d. 790) * George I of Abkhazia (ruled 872/3–878/9) * George I of Georgia (d. 1027) * Yuri Dolgor ...

. Because he died so young it is perhaps difficult to form any firm judgment on his character. Even during his short life there seem to have been two opposing views. On one view he was a notorious wastrel, and the despair of his stepfather, hence Addison's deathbed remark to him about dying like a Christian. The other view was that he was "an exceptionally studious and intellectual young man", who in his short life was much loved by his friends and family. The fact that Addison's close friend

Thomas Tickell Thomas Tickell (17 December 1685 – 23 April 1740) was a minor English poet and man of letters. Life The son of a clergyman, he was born at Bridekirk near Cockermouth, Cumberland. He was educated at St Bees School 1695–1701, and in 1701 ente ...

dedicated his elegy on Addison's death to Warwick suggests that he was sincerely moved by his stepfather's death. He died in 1721 and was succeeded by his cousin Edward Rich.

References

1698 births 1721 deaths 17th-century English nobility 18th-century English nobility Earls of Warwick (1618 creation)

Edward Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sax ...

Earls of Holland {{England-earl-stub