Sir Thomas Rich, 1st Baronet (c. 1601 – 15 October 1667) was an English merchant and 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 ...

in 1660. He established Sir Thomas Rich's School, a

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

. Rich was born in

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

, son of Thomas Rich, an alderman of the city, and Anne, daughter of Thomas Machin, in 1601. He was sent to school in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and went on to study at the newly founded

Wadham College, Oxford Wadham College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street, Oxford, Broad Street and Parks Road ...

. Afterwards, he worked in the city of London in the wine importing trade. Rich later purchased the manor of

Sonning Sonning (traditional: ; modern: ) is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England, on the River Thames, east of Reading, Berkshire, Reading. The village was described by Jerome K. Jerome in his book ''Three Men in a Boat'' as "the most fair ...

, near

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

. In 1657 Rich was appointed

High Sheriff of Berkshire The High Sheriff of Berkshire, in common with other counties, was originally the King's representative on taxation upholding the law in Anglo-Saxons, Saxon times. The word Sheriff evolved from 'shire-reeve'. The title of High Sheriff#United King ...

and in 1660 elected Member of Parliament (MP) for

in the Convention Parliament.History of Parliament Online – Rich, Thomas
/ref> In 1661, Charles II created him

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 ...

of Sunning, Berkshire. Rich died in 1667 and was buried in the Rich Chapel in the parish church at Sonning – his monument has been moved to under the church tower. In his will, Rich left £6000 and his house in Gloucester to establish a school for poor boys. The money was invested in local farmland, and the rent generated by the house was used to pay for the upkeep and operation of the school. Sir Thomas Rich's School opened in 1668, one year after Rich's death, and is still in use today as a grammar school, although not in its original location. The Tommy Psalm (the School Song) describes the history of the school (albeit incorrectly).

Marriages

He married firstly Barbara Morewood, daughter of Gilbert Morewood and Martha Saunderson, by whom he had one daughter Mary, who married Sir Robert Gayer. He married, secondly, Elizabeth Cockayne (or Cokayne), by whom he had several children, including William, his son and heir.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rich, Thomas 1600s births 1667 deaths People from Sonning Politicians from Gloucester Alumni of Wadham College, Oxford Baronets in the Baronetage of England English MPs 1660 High sheriffs of Berkshire Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for Reading 17th-century English merchants