Jump to content

Richard Edgcumbe, 2nd Baron Edgcumbe

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Richard Edgcumbe, 2nd Baron Edgcumbe
Richard, 2nd Baron Edgcumbe, by Joshua Reynolds
Lord Lieutenant of Cornwall
In office
1759-1761
Comptroller of the Household
In office
1756-1761
Member of Parliament for Penryn
In office
1754-1758
Member of Parliament for Lostwithiel
In office
1747-1754
Member of Parliament for Plympton Erle
In office
1742-1747
Personal details
Born(1716-08-02)2 August 1716
Died10 May 1761(1761-05-10) (aged 44)
Parent
RelativesGeorge Edgcumbe (brother)
Richard Edgcumbe (nephew)
Arms of Edgcumbe, Earls of Mount Edgcumbe: Gules, on a bend ermines cotised or three boar's heads couped argent

Richard Edgcumbe, 2nd Baron Edgcumbe PC (2 August 1716 – 10 May 1761) was a British nobleman and politician.

Biography

[edit]

The eldest surviving son of Richard Edgcumbe, 1st Baron Edgcumbe and his wife Matilda Furnese, he was educated at Eton from 1725 to 1732. Through his father's interest in Devon and Cornwall, he was returned as Member of Parliament for Plympton Erle at a by-election in 1742 as a Government supporter.[1]

Edgcumbe was a heavy gambler, losing "daily twenty guineas" at White's. He was given a secret service pension of £500 a year by Henry Pelham to provide for him. Meanwhile, he was made a capital burgess of Lostwithiel in 1743 and served as mayor the next year. He switched his seat to Lostwithiel in 1747. Dissatisfied with subsisting on Government charity, he unsuccessfully made an application to Pelham for employment, rather than a pension, in 1752. He was eventually made a Lord of Trade in 1754, when he was returned for Penryn and the next year, a Lord of the Admiralty instead, serving for a year. In 1756, he was appointed Comptroller of the Household and was again mayor of Lostwithiel, being appointed to the Privy Council on 19 November. Succeeding his father in 1758, he was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Cornwall in 1759 and recorder of Plympton Erle. He died childless in 1761 and was succeeded by his brother.[1]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Cruickshanks, Eveline (1970). "EDGCUMBE, Hon. Richard (1716–61), of Mount Edgcumbe, nr. Plymouth, Devon.". In Sedgwick, Romney (ed.). The House of Commons 1715–1754. The History of Parliament Trust.
Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Plympton Erle
1742–1747
With: The Lord Sundon 1742–1747
George Edgcumbe 1747
Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Lostwithiel
1747–1754
With: James Edward Colleton
Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Penryn
1754–1758
With: George Boscawen
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Comptroller of the Household
1756–1761
Succeeded by
Honorary titles
Preceded by Lord Lieutenant of Cornwall
1759–1761
Succeeded by
Peerage of Great Britain
Preceded by Baron Edgcumbe
1758–1761
Succeeded by