Sir Richard Vyvyan, 1st Baronet (c. 1613 – 3 October 1665) was an English 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. ...

at various times between 1640 and 1665. He supported 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 ...

cause in 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 ...

. Vyvyan was the eldest son of Sir Francis Vyvyan (1575–1635), head of one of Cornwall's leading families who had been both a member of parliament and

High Sheriff of Cornwall Sheriffs and high sheriffs of Cornwall: a chronological list: The right to choose high sheriffs each year is vested in the Duchy of Cornwall. The Privy Council, chaired by the sovereign, chooses the sheriffs of all other English counties, ot ...

. He was of

Trelowarren Mawgan-in-Meneage is a civil parish in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated in the Meneage district of The Lizard peninsula south of Helston in the former administrative district of Kerrier. The parish population at the 2011 census was ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, when he was knighted at Whitehall on 1 March 1636, shortly after his father's death. In April 1640, Vyvyan 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 Penryn in 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 elected MP for

Tregony Tregony ( kw, Trerigoni), sometimes in the past Tregoney, is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Tregony with Cuby, in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It lies on the River Fal. In the village there is a post office (now ...

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 ...

in November 1640. He supported the King in the Civil War and joined the King's Parliament at Oxford rather than remaining at Westminster. He established a Royalist mint in Truro in 1642-43 and was Master of the Mint there and when it was moved to

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

in September 1643. He was disabled from sitting in the House of Commons in January 1644. King Charles rewarded him for his loyalty by creating him a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

on 12 February 1645. He was subsequently fined £600 and had his estate sequestrated. After the

Restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

, Vyvyan returned once more to public life. He stood for as MP for St Mawes for 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 ...

in 1661 but was excluded in a double return. He was later elected MP for St Mawes in a by-election in 1663 and sat until his death in 1665. Vyvyan married Mary Bulteel, and was succeeded in the baronetcy by their eldest son, Vyell.

References

* ''Vivian's Visitations of Cornwall'' (Exeter: William Pollard & Co, 1887

*D. Brunton & D. H. Pennington, ''Members of the Long Parliament'' (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954)
Vyvyan genealogy
* ''Burke's Peerage and Baronetage'' (London: Henry Colburn & Richard Bentley, 1832

* Edward Kimber, E. Kimber & R. Johnson, ''The Baronetage of England'' (London, 1771

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Vyvyan, Richard, 1st Baronet 1610s births 1665 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of England Members of the Parliament of England for Penryn English MPs 1640 (April) English MPs 1640–1648 English MPs 1661–1679

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 ...

Cavaliers Members of the Parliament of England for Tregony Members of the Parliament of England for St Mawes