Sir Richard Edgcumbe (13 February 1640 – 3 April 1688) was an English politician.

Biography

He was the eldest son of Piers Edgcumbe of Mount Edgcumbe House and Cotehele,

Calstock Calstock () is a civil parishes in England, civil parish and a large village in south east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, on the border with Devon. The village is situated on the River Tamar south west of Tavistock, Devon, Tavistock and no ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

, and his wife, Mary, daughter of Sir John Glanville of Broad Hinton, Wiltshire. He was the Member of Parliament for Launceston from 19 March 1661 to 14 February 1679 and MP for

from 1679 to 1681. He was appointed Knight of the Order of the Bath (KB) in 1661 in order to attend the coronation of Charles II. He held a number of public appointments, namely Commissioner for Assessment for Cornwall (1663–1680), for

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

(1673–1680) and for

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

(1679–1680), Deputy Governor (1670–1672), Assistant Governor (1678–death) and Deputy-Lieutenant of Cornwall (1670–death) and of Devon (1676–death) and Commissioner for Recusants for Cornwall (1675). He was High Sheriff of Cornwall in 1685. He was a Member of the Society of Mines Royal (1669). He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in November 1676 but expelled in 1685. He died aged 48 leaving his 2 sons and 6 daughters. He had married Anne, daughter of Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of Sandwich and Jemima Crewe. Their son Richard Edgcumbe was created Baron Edgcumbe. They also had a daughter Anne who married Henry Pyne, a wealthy landowner of an established

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

family. Richard's widow remarried Christopher Montagu and died in 1729. Her mother – the much loved "my lady" of

Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys ( ; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English writer and Tories (British political party), Tory politician. He served as an official in the Navy Board and Member of Parliament (England), Member of Parliament, but is most r ...

– spent her last years at Mount Edgecumbe and is buried there. In his ''Tangier Journal'' Pepys records a visit to Lady Edgcumbe on 22 August 1679: "She received me extremely kindly. Visited her house and garden and park, a most beautiful place".

References

1640 births 1688 deaths Politicians from Cornwall High sheriffs of Cornwall Fellows of the Royal Society Knights of the Bath Members of the pre-1707 English Parliament for constituencies in Cornwall English MPs 1661–1679 English MPs 1679 English MPs 1680–1681 Members of the Parliament of England for Launceston Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for Cornwall {{1680-England-MP-stub