Richard Hampden (aft. 1674 – 27 July 1728) of Great Hampden, near Wendover, Buckinghamshire was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Whig

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

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. T ...

almost continuously from 1701 to 1728.

Early life

Hampden was the eldest son of

John Hampden John Hampden (24 June 1643) was an English landowner and politician whose opposition to arbitrary taxes imposed by Charles I made him a national figure. An ally of Parliamentarian leader John Pym, and cousin to Oliver Cromwell, he was one of t ...

, and his first wife Sarah Foley, daughter of Thomas Foley of Witley Court, Worcestershire. He was great-grandson 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 ...

tax protestor

. His younger half-brother was

, MP. In 1696, he succeeded his father to the Wendover estate and Hampden House. His father committed suicide, which was agreed to be a "sad cloud" over the son: friends urged him not to react by "sowing his wild oats". He studied at Utrecht in 1699. In 1701, he married his cousin Isabella Ellys, daughter of Sir William Ellys, 2nd Baronet, MP of Wyham and Nocton, Lincolnshire.

Career

Hampden was returned unopposed as MP for

Wendover Wendover is a market town and civil parish at the foot of the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire, England. It is situated at the point where the main road across the Chilterns between London and Aylesbury intersects with the once important road a ...

at the two general elections of 1701, and was elected in contest in 1703 and 1705. At the 1708 general election, he was returned unopposed as MP for Buckinghamshire but was defeated in contests in

1710 In the Swedish calendar it was a common year starting on Saturday, one day ahead of the Julian and ten days behind the Gregorian calendar. Events January–March * January 1 – In Prussia, Cölln is merged with Alt-Berlin by ...

and

1713 Events January–March * January 17 – Tuscarora War: Colonel James Moore leads the Carolina militia out of Albemarle County, North Carolina, in a second offensive against the Tuscarora. Heavy snows force the troops to take ref ...

. In 1710 he was offered a seat on the Treasury Commission but refused. He then quarreled with the Queen, urging her not to dissolve Parliament.

Anne Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...

made the crushing retort that "though she had offered him employment she had not asked for his advice". He was returned as MP for Berwick-on-Tweed at a by-election on 22 December 1711 and at the 1713 general election. Hampden was returned unopposed as MP for Buckinghamshire again at the 1715 general election. In 1716 he was appointed Teller of the Exchequer. In 1718, he was sworn of the Privy Council and appointed

Treasurer of the Navy The Treasurer of the Navy, originally called Treasurer of Marine Causes or Paymaster of the Navy, was a civilian officer of the Royal Navy, one of the principal commissioners of the Navy Board responsible for naval finance from 1524 to 1832. ...

. In 1719 he was one of the original backers of the Royal Academy of Music, establishing a London opera company which commissioned numerous works from Handel and others.Thomas McGeary. ''The Politics of Opera in Handel's Britain''. Cambridge University Press, 2013. p.254 In 1720, he speculated in the stock of the

South Sea Company The South Sea Company (officially The Governor and Company of the merchants of Great Britain, trading to the South Seas and other parts of America, and for the encouragement of the Fishery) was a British joint-stock company founded in Ja ...

using naval funds to make a personal profit. When the South Sea Bubble burst, he made losses of £90,000, of which less than half was secured. He was consequentially dismissed from office. In

1722 Events January–March * January 27 – Daniel Defoe's novel ''Moll Flanders'' is published anonymously in London. * February 10 – The Battle of Cape Lopez begins off of the coast of West Africa (and present-day Gabon), a ...

he was elected MP at Wendover and in

1727 Events January–March * January 1 – (December 21, 1726 O.S.) Spain's ambassador to Great Britain demands that the British return Gibraltar after accusing Britain of violating the terms of the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht. Britain ...

, he was returned unopposed at Wendover and elected without his knowledge at Buckinghamshire and chose to sit for the latter. Hampden died on 27 July 1728.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hampden, Richard 1670s births 1728 deaths People from Buckinghamshire English MPs 1701 English MPs 1701–1702 English MPs 1702–1705 English MPs 1705–1707 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1707–1708 British MPs 1708–1710 British MPs 1710–1713 British MPs 1713–1715 British MPs 1715–1722 British MPs 1722–1727 British MPs 1727–1734 Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain