Richard Richards (judge)

Sir Richard Richards

Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer

.

Life

Richards was born on 5 November 1752 at Coed,

called to the bar on 12 February 1780.^[1]

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in February 1793 as a "Gentleman studious in Natural History".^[2]

Political career

In the 1796 general election, Richards was elected as one of the members of parliament for the constituency of Helston, Cornwall. He held the seat until March 1799, when he resigned in favour of Lord Francis Osborne, son of the Duke of Leeds who controlled the seat. He was re-elected at the May 1807 general election, resigning on 29 July 1807 in favour of Sir James Blackwood. During his parliamentary career, he supported the ministry of William Pitt the Younger but made only one reported speech, opposing the Quakers' Relief Bill on 24 February 1797 as unnecessary and inconvenient.^[1]

Legal career

Richards' main area of practice was in the

William Grant. He was appointed as a Bencher of Inner Temple in 1799, and held the positions of Reader (1804) and Treasurer (1806).^[1]

He was a potential appointee to the newly created position of

Privy Counsellor five days later. He helped clear the backlog of equity appeals and was regarded as a sound and capable judge. He presided over the trials of Jeremiah Brandreth, convicted of treason, and two of the Cato Street conspirators. He also acted as Lord Speaker when Lord Eldon was ill in January 1819.^[1]

Family

Richards married Catherine Humphreys, through whom Richards acquired an estate in

Queen's Counsel and both, like their father, became benchers of Inner Temple, as did a grandson and a great-grandson of Sir Richard Richards. Richards died on 11 November 1823 and was buried in the Inner Temple vault; his wife was buried there also on 12 October 1825.^[1]

A monument was erected in Dolgellau to a design by Edward Hodges Baily.^[3]

References

^
doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/23538. Retrieved 27 May 2008. (Subscription or UK public library membership
required.)

^ "Library and Archive catalogue". The Royal Society. Retrieved 5 October 2010.
^ Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851 by Rupert Gunnis

External links

Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Richard Richards

Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by Sir Stephen Lushington Charles Abbot	Member of Parliament for Helston 1796–1799 With: Charles Abbot	Succeeded by Charles Abbot Lord Francis Osborne
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by John Du Ponthieu Thomas Brand	Member of Parliament for Helston 1807 With: Sir John St Aubyn	Succeeded by Sir John St Aubyn The Lord Dufferin and Claneboye
Legal offices
Preceded by Robert Dallas	Chief Justice of Chester 1813–1814	Succeeded by Sir William Garrow
Preceded by Sir Alexander Thomson	Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer 1817–1823	Succeeded by Sir William Alexander

[Oxford-1] 
doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/23538. Retrieved 27 May 2008. (Subscription or UK public library membership
required.)

[2] "Library and Archive catalogue". The Royal Society. Retrieved 5 October 2010.

[3] Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851 by Rupert Gunnis

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[2]

[3]

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