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 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 ...

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 gove ...

cause in the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

. 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 of the United Kingdom, Privy Council, chaired by the sovereign, chooses the sheriff ...

. He was of Trelowarren,

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, ...

, 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 for Penryn in the

Short Parliament The Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that was summoned by King Charles I of England on 20 February 1640 and sat from 13 April to 5 May 1640. It was so called because of its short session of only three weeks. After 11 years of per ...

. He was elected MP for

Tregony Tregony (), sometimes in the past Tregoney, is a village and former civil parishes in England, 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 o ...

for the

Long Parliament The Long Parliament was an Parliament of England, English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660, making it the longest-lasting Parliament in English and British history. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened f ...

in November 1640. He supported the King in the Civil War and joined the

King's Kings or King's may refer to: *Kings: The sovereign heads of states and/or nations. *One of several works known as the "Book of Kings": **The Books of Kings part of the Bible, divided into two parts **The ''Shahnameh'', an 11th-century epic Persia ...

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 status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

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

St Mawes St Mawes () is a village on the end of the Roseland Peninsula, in the eastern side of Falmouth, Cornwall, Falmouth harbour, on the south coast of Cornwall, England. The village, formerly two separate hamlets, lies on the east bank of the Carri ...

for the

Cavalier Parliament The Cavalier Parliament of England lasted from 8 May 1661 until 24 January 1679. With the exception of the Long Parliament, it was the longest-lasting English Parliament, and longer than any Great British or UK Parliament to date, enduring ...

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 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 compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'st ...

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