Philip Rashleigh (1729–1811)

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Philip Rashleigh
Portrait by John Opie c1795
Known forRashleigh Gallery at Royal Cornwall Museum.
Scientific career
FieldsMineralogy, Geology
Cornish chough, argent beaked and legged gules; in the second quarter: a text "T"; in the third and fourth quarters: a crescent all of the third[1]

Philip Rashleigh

Anglo-Saxon
treasure, which still gives its name to the "Trewhiddle style" of 9th century decoration.

Origins

He was born at

Aldermanbury, City of London, on 28 December 1729,[2] the eldest son and heir of Jonathan Rashleigh (1693–1764), of Menabilly, MP for Fowey in Cornwall, by his wife Mary Clayton, daughter of Sir William Clayton, 1st Baronet (died 1744) of Marden Park in Surrey. (see: Woldingham
)

Career

Antique print of Menabilly

He matriculated from New College, Oxford, 15 July 1749, and contributed to the poems of the university on the death of Frederick, Prince of Wales, a set of English verses, which is reprinted in Nichols's Select Collection of Poems (viii. 201–2); he left Oxford without taking a degree. On the death of his father in 1764 he inherited the family seat of Menabilly, near Fowey on the south coast of Cornwall.

He also took over from him in Parliament as the

Father of the House of Commons".[3] His knowledge of Cornish mineralogy procured his election as a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and Fellow of the Royal Society in 1788.[4]

Portrait

A portrait of Rashleigh, seated in a chair, was painted by John Opie about 1795, and is now in the Royal Cornwall Museum, Truro.[5] It is a "fine specimen of the painter's best period".[2][6]

Scientific work

Rashleigh's collection of minerals was remarkable for its various specimens of tin. Much is on display at the

Éléonore de Raab.[10]

Rashleigh was a regular correspondant with John Hawkins, patron of Martin Heinrich Klaproth, and William Gregor, discoverer of Titanium. They bought and sold minerals, patronised leading chemists and introduced european geological theories into the British Isles. Cleevely (2000) called these the "Trio of Cornish Geologists".[11]

Marriage

He married his first cousin, Jane Pole (1720–1795), only daughter of the Rev. Carolus Pole, 3rd son of Sir John Pole of

Sheriff of Cornwall for 1820.[12]

Death and burial

He died at Menabilly on 26 June 1811 and was buried in the church of Tywardreath, Cornwall.

References

  1. ^ Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Commoners of Great Britain, vol.1
  2. ^ a b c "Rashleigh, Philip" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
  3. ^ COURTNEY, Parl. Rep. Cornwall, pp. 105, 108–9
  4. ^ "Fellow details". Royal Society. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
  5. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 4 Dec 2007
  6. ^ ROGERS, Opie and his Works, p. 150
  7. ^ "The Geological Collection | Collections | Royal Cornwall Museum". Archived from the original on 9 October 2007. Retrieved 4 December 2007.
  8. ^ Copperores more information
  9. ^ Nichols, Lit. Illustrations, viii. 564; Numismatic Chronicle, new ser. vol. viii. 137–57; Trans. Royal Institution of Cornwall, October 1867
  10. ^ "Born Ignaz von". Mineralogical Record. Retrieved 25 July 2022. Information about Raab is included in section 9, about the catalogue of her collection
  11. ^ Cleevely, R. J. (2000). "The Contributions of a Trio of Cornish Geologists to 18th century Mineralogy". Transactions of the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall. 22 (3): 89–120.
  12. ^ Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry, 15th Edition, ed. Pirie-Gordon, H., London, 1937, pp. 1891–3, Rashleigh of Menabilly
Attribution

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Rashleigh, Philip". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.

External links

Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Fowey
1765–1800
With: Hon. Robert Boyle-Walsingham 1765–1768
James Modyford Heywood 1768–1774
The Lord Shuldham 1774–1784
John Grant 1784–1786
Viscount Valletort 1786–1795
Sylvester Douglas 1795–1796
Reginald Pole-Carew 1796–1799
Edward Golding 1799–1800 		Succeeded by
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Parliament of Great Britain
 Member of Parliament for Fowey
1801–1802
With: Edward Golding 		Succeeded by
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