Sir Richard Meredith, 2nd Baronet (died 1679) 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 Bicameralism, 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 ...

from 1656 to 1659. Meredith was the son of Sir William Meredith, 1st Baronet of

Leeds Abbey Leeds Priory, also known as Leeds Abbey, was a priory in Leeds, Kent, England, that was founded in 1119 and dissolved in 1539. A mansion was later built on the site of the priory; it was demolished in the late 18th century. The site of the form ...

, Kent and his wife Susanna Barker of London. John Burke ''A genealogical and heraldic history of the commoners of Great Britain, Volume 3''"> John Burke ''A genealogical and heraldic history of the commoners of Great Britain, Volume 3''
/ref> He was educated at

Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the 16 "old colleges" of the university, and was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. Its buildings span the R ...

and admitted at

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

on 10 March 1649. In 1656, Meredith was elected Member of Parliament for

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

in the

Second Protectorate Parliament The Second Protectorate Parliament in England sat for two sessions from 17 September 1656 until 4 February 1658, with Thomas Widdrington as the Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom), Speaker of the House of Commons. In its first sess ...

and in 1659 he was elected MP for

Sandwich A sandwich is a Dish (food), dish typically consisting variously of meat, cheese, sauces, and vegetables used as a filling between slices of bread, or placed atop a slice of bread; or, more generally, any dish in which bread serves as a ''co ...

in the

Third Protectorate Parliament The Third Protectorate Parliament sat for one session, from 27 January 1659 until 22 April 1659, with Chaloner Chute and Thomas Bampfylde as the Speakers of the House of Commons. It was a bicameral Parliament, with an Upper House having a po ...

. Meredith succeeded to the baronetcy on the death of his father in 1675 and lived at

Leeds Castle Leeds Castle is a castle in Kent, England, southeast of Maidstone. It is built on islands in a lake formed by the River Len to the east of the village of Leeds and is a historic Grade I listed estate. A castle has existed on the site s ...

. He died in 1679 and was buried at Leeds Church on 5 September 1679. Meredith married Susanna Skippon daughter of

Philip Skippon Major-General Philip Skippon ( – 20 February 1660) was an English army officer and politician. He fought for the Parliamentary cause during the English Civil War as a senior officer in the New Model Army. Prior to the war, Skippon fought in ...

, of Foulsham, Norfolk, in 1655. His sons William, Richard (a certified lunatic) and

Roger Roger is a masculine given name, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic languages">Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") ...

succeeded successively to the baronetcy. Roger and another son

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

were also Members of Parliament.David Hayton, Eveline Cruickshanks, Stuart Handley ''The House of Commons, 1690-1715, Volume 1''
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meredith, Richard 1679 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of England English MPs 1656–1658 English MPs 1659 Year of birth missing Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge People from Leeds, Kent