Sir William Rich, 2nd Baronet (c. 1654 – 1711), 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 ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

, was an English politician. He was a son of

Sir Thomas Rich, 1st Baronet Sir Thomas Rich, 1st Baronet (c. 1601 – 15 October 1667) was an English merchant and politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1660. He established Sir Thomas Rich's School, a grammar school. Rich was born in Gloucester, son of Thomas Ri ...

, and his second wife, Elizabeth, daughter of

William Cockayne Sir William Cockayne (1561 – 20 October 1626) was an English merchant and politician who served as the Lord Mayor of London in 1619. Life He was the second son of William Cokayne of Baddesley Ensor, Warwickshire, merchant of London, sometim ...

, alderman and merchant of London. He was a

Member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

(MP) of the

Parliament of England The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the Great Council of England, great council of Lords Spi ...

for

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 1689–1698 and the period 26 November 1705 – 1708, and for

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 ...

in 1698.

Early life

Born around 1654, Rich was the second but only surviving son of Sir Thomas Rich, and his second wife, Elizabeth Cockayne. In 1667, he succeeded his father as the 2nd Baronet Rich of Sonning, Berkshire, a title created in the

Baronetage of England Baronets are hereditary titles awarded by the Crown. The current baronetage of the United Kingdom has replaced the earlier, existing baronetages of England, Nova Scotia, Ireland and Great Britain. To be recognised as a baronet, it is necessary ...

in 1661.

Political career

Rich's political interests became evident in 1680 when he accompanied the

Duke of Monmouth Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they ar ...

and Lord Lovelace on a visit to

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

. He sought to contest the 1685 general election for

but was denied due to not being a freeman of the town. Although the initial election was declared void, Rich came last in the subsequent by-election. Despite these setbacks, he was listed among those opposed to

King James II James II and VII (14 October 1633 – 16 September 1701) was King of England and Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685, until he was deposed in the 1688 Glori ...

. Following the

Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution, also known as the Revolution of 1688, was the deposition of James II and VII, James II and VII in November 1688. He was replaced by his daughter Mary II, Mary II and her Dutch husband, William III of Orange ...

, Rich's political fortunes improved. He was successful in the 1689 election for Reading and sat in

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

until

1698 Events January–March * January 1 – The Abenaki tribe and Massachusetts colonists sign a treaty, ending the conflict in New England. * January 4 – The Palace of Whitehall in London, England is destroyed by fire. * January 23 – ...

. During this period, he aligned himself with the Court Whigs and supported the disabling clause in the bill to restore corporations. Re-elected in 1690, he continued to vote consistently with the Court Whigs. Rich briefly represented

in 1698 before returning to Reading for another term (1705-1708). He passed away in 1711 and was buried at Sonning. It wasn't until 1784 that another member of his family, his great-grandson, the 5th Baronet, re-entered Parliament as a government supporter.

Marriages

Rich married Lady Anne Bruce ( 1716) in 1672. Lady Anne was the daughter of

Robert Bruce, 1st Earl of Ailesbury Robert Bruce, 1st Earl of Ailesbury (later styled Aylesbury) and 2nd Earl of Elgin, Privy Council of England, PC, Royal Society, FRS (ca. March 1626 – 20 October 1685), was a Scottish politician who sat in the House of Commons of England, ...

. Despite his marriage into a

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 ...

family, Rich emerged as a strong Whig politician.

References

1650s births 1711 deaths People from Sonning Baronets in the Baronetage of England Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for Gloucester English MPs 1689–1690 English MPs 1690–1695 English MPs 1695–1698 English MPs 1698–1700 English MPs 1705–1707 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1707–1708 Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for Reading Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Reading {{1698-England-MP-stub