View source for Richard Rich, 1st Baron Rich

{{Short description|English politician (1496–1567)}}
{{redirect|Richard Rich}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name        = The Lord Rich
| honorific-suffix = [[Knight Bachelor|Kt]]
| image       = Hans Holbein the Younger - Sir Richard Rich, later 1st Baron Rich RL 12238.jpg
| alt         = 
| caption     = Sketch by [[Hans Holbein the Younger]]
| office1     = [[List of Speakers of the House of Commons of England|Speaker of the House of Commons]]
| term_start1 = 9 June 1536
| term_end1   = 18 July 1536
| predecessor1 = [[Humphrey Wingfield]]
| successor1  = [[Nicholas Hare]]
| office2     = [[Lord Chancellor]]
| term_start2 = 1547
| term_end2   = 1552
| predecessor2 = [[William Paulet, 1st Marquess of Winchester|The Lord St John]]
| successor2  = [[Thomas Goodrich]]
| birth_name  = 
| birth_date  = {{birth date|1496|7||df=yes}}
| birth_place = 
| death_date  = {{death date and age|1567|6|12|1496|7||df=yes}}
| death_place = [[Rochford]], [[Essex]]
| resting_place = [[Felsted]] church, Essex
| other_names = 
| known_for   = 
| occupation  = [[Lord Chancellor of England]]
}}
[[File:Rich.svg|thumb|200px|Arms of Rich: ''Gules, a chevron between three crosses botonée or'']]
'''Richard Rich, 1st Baron Rich''' (July 1496 – 12 June 1567), was [[Lord Chancellor]] during King [[Edward VI of England]]'s reign, from 1547 until January 1552. He was the founder of [[Felsted School]] with its associated [[almshouses]] in [[Essex]] in 1564. He was a beneficiary of the [[Dissolution of the Monasteries]], and persecuted perceived opponents of the king and their policies. He played a role in the trials of Catholic martyrs [[Thomas More]] and [[John Fisher]] as well as that of Protestant martyr [[Anne Askew]].

==Origins==
According to some sources, Rich was born in the London parish of [[St Lawrence Jewry]], the second son of Richard Rich by Joan Dingley,{{sfn|Pollard|1896|p=123}}{{sfn|Cokayne|1945|p=774}} but this is disputed.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1509-1558/member/rich-richard-149697-1567 | title= History of Parliament: RICH, Richard (1496/97-1567), of West Smithfield, Mdx., Rochford and Leighs, Essex. | publisher = History of Parliament Trust | access-date= 11 December 2011}}</ref> Also, according to Carter, he was born at [[Basingstoke]], [[Hampshire]], the son of '''John Rich''' (d. 1509?), of [[Penton Mewsey]], [[Hampshire]], and a wife named '''Agnes''' whose surname is unknown.{{sfn|Carter|2004}} In 1509, Richard inherited his father's house in [[Islington]], [[Middlesex]].{{sfn|Carter|2004}} Early in 1551 he was described in an official document as "fifty-four years of age and more", and was therefore born about 1496 or earlier.{{sfn|Pollard|1896|p=123}}{{sfn|Carter|2004}}

According to Sergeaunt (1889):{{sfn|Sergeaunt|1889|p=80}}
{{quote|The origin of the family of Lord Rich has been matter of some discussion&nbsp;... The first of the family of whom there is definite information was [[Richard Rich (Sheriff of London)|Richard Rich]], a wealthy [[Mercery|mercer]] of London and Sheriff of the City in 1441. The date of his death is given by [[Burke's Peerage|Burke]] as 1469, but it would seem that he has been confounded with his son John, who was buried in the Mercer’s chapel in that year. The family remained in the city, and the son of John Rich was probably also a mercer. To him was born sometime between 1480 and 1490 a son whom he named Richard.}}

He had a brother, Robert, whom [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]] granted a [[messuage]] in Bucklersbury<ref>City of London, at the east end of [[Cheapside]].</ref> on 24 February 1539,{{sfn|Simpson|1870|pp=161–3}} and who died in 1557.{{sfn|Pollard|1896|p=123}}

==Career==
Little is known of Rich's early life. He may have studied at Cambridge before 1516.{{sfn|Pollard|1896|p=123}} That year, he entered the [[Middle Temple]] as a lawyer and at some point between 1520 and 1525 he was a reader at the [[New Inn (Inn of Chancery)|New Inn]]. By 1528 Rich was in search of a patron and wrote to [[Thomas Wolsey|Cardinal Wolsey]]; in 1529, [[Thomas Audley, 1st Baron Audley of Walden|Thomas Audley]] succeeded in helping him get elected as an MP for [[Colchester (UK Parliament constituency)|Colchester]].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1509-1558/constituencies/colchester| title= History of Parliament| publisher = History of Parliament Trust | access-date= 17 October 2011}}</ref> As Audley's career advanced in the early 1530s, so did Rich's, through a variety of legal posts, before he became truly prominent in the mid-1530s.{{sfn|Pollard|1896|p=123}}

Other preferments followed, and in 1533 Rich was knighted and became the [[Solicitor General for England and Wales]] in which capacity he was to act under [[Thomas Cromwell]] as a "lesser hammer" for the demolition of the monasteries, and to secure the operation of [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]]'s [[Act of Supremacy]].{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}} Rich had a share in the trials of [[Thomas More]] and [[John Fisher|Bishop John Fisher]]. In both cases his evidence against the prisoner included admissions made in friendly conversation, and in More's case the words were given a misconstruction that could hardly be other than wilful.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pendrill |first=Colin |year=2000 |title=The English Reformation: crown power and religious change, 1485–1558 |page=144}}</ref> While on trial, More said that Rich was "always reputed light of his tongue, a great dicer and gamester, and not of any commendable fame."<ref>{{Cite book |last=More |first=Cresacre |year=1828 |title=The Life of Sir Thomas More |page=[https://archive.org/details/lifesirthomasmo00moregoog/page/n333 263] |editor=Rev. Joseph Hunter F.S.A. |publisher=William Pickering |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/lifesirthomasmo00moregoog |access-date=14 September 2012}}</ref> Rich also played a major part in Cromwell's fall.

As King's Solicitor, Rich travelled to [[Kimbolton Castle]] in [[Huntingdonshire]] in January 1536 to take the inventory of the goods of [[Katherine of Aragon]], and wrote to Henry advising how he might properly obtain her possessions.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Strype |first=John |year=1822 |title=Ecclesiastical Memorials |volume=1 |location=Oxford |pages=252–255 |chapter=Rich to Henry, 19 January 1535/6}}</ref>

===Chancellor===
On 19 April 1536 Rich became the chancellor of the [[Court of Augmentations]], established for the disposal of the monastic revenues. His own share of the spoil, acquired either by grant or purchase, included [[Leez Priory|Leez (Leighs) Priory]] and about 100 manors in [[Essex, England|Essex]]. Rich also acquired—and destroyed—the real estate and holdings of the Priory of [[St Bartholomew-the-Great]] in Smithfield.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Webb |first=E.A. |year=1921 |title=Records of St. Bartholomew's Smithfield |volume=2 vols |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/catalogue.aspx?gid=97 |access-date=29 March 2009}}</ref> He was [[Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom)|Speaker of the House of Commons]] in the same year, and advocated the king's policy. Despite the share he had taken in the [[Dissolution of the Monasteries|suppression of the monasteries]], the prosecution of Thomas More and Bishop Fisher and the part he played under [[Edward VI of England|Edward VI]] and Elizabeth, his religious beliefs remained nominally Catholic.

Rich was also a participant in the torture of [[Anne Askew]], the only woman tortured at the [[Tower of London]]. Both he and [[Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton|Chancellor Wriothesley]] turned the wheels of the rack to torture her.{{sfn|Weir|1991|p=517}}

===Baron Rich===
[[File:Tower at Leez Priory - geograph.org.uk - 254728.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|[[Leez Priory]] tower in Essex]]
Rich was an assistant executor of the [[will of King Henry VIII]], and received a grant of lands.<ref>{{cite ODNB |last=Carter |first=P. R. N. |id=23491 |title=Rich, Richard}}</ref> He became [[Baron Rich]] of [[Leez Priory|Leez]] on 26 February 1547. In the next month he succeeded [[Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton|Wriothesley]] as chancellor. He supported [[Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset|Lord Protector Edward Seymour]] in his policies, including reforms in Church matters and the prosecution of his brother [[Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley|Thomas Seymour]], until the crisis of October 1549, when he joined with [[John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland|John Dudley]]. He resigned his office in January 1552.

===Prosecution of bishops===
{{unreferenced section|date=May 2019}}
[[File:Elizabeth, Lady Rich, by Hans Holbein the Younger.jpg|thumb|left|Elizabeth, Lady Rich, by [[Hans Holbein the Younger]].]]
Rich took part in the prosecution of bishops [[Stephen Gardiner]] and [[Edmund Bonner]], and had a role in the harsh treatment accorded to the future [[Mary I of England]]. But upon her accession, Mary showed Rich no ill will. He took an active part in the restoration of the old religion in Essex under the new reign, and was one of the most active persecutors. His reappearances in the [[Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council|privy council]] were rare during Mary's reign, but under [[Elizabeth I of England|Elizabeth]] he served on a commission to inquire into the grants of land made under Mary, and in 1566 was sent for to advise on the question of the queen's marriage. He died at [[Rochford]] in [[Essex]], on 12 June 1567, and was buried in Holy Cross Church in [[Felsted]].

In Mary's reign he founded a chaplaincy with provision for the singing of [[Mass (liturgy)|masses]] and [[Dirge|dirges]], and the ringing of bells in Felsted church. To this was added a [[Lent]]en allowance of herrings to the inhabitants of three parishes. These donations were transferred in 1564 to the foundation of [[Felsted School]] for instruction, primarily for children born on the founder's manors, in [[Latin]], Greek, and divinity. The patronage of the school remained in the founder's family until 1851.

===Descendants===
Richard Rich died in June 1567.<ref>[[F. G. Emmison]], ''Elizabethan Life: Wills of Essex Gentry and Merchants'' (Chelmsford, 1978), pp. 9-12.</ref> Rich's descendants formed the powerful [[Rich family]], lasting for three centuries, acquiring several titles in the [[Peerage of England]] and intermarrying with numerous other [[Nobility|noble families]].

By his wife Elizabeth Jenks (Gynkes) (d.1558)<ref>{{cite web |title=Notes to the diary: 1558 Pages 362-369 The Diary of Henry Machyn, Citizen and Merchant-Taylor of London, 1550-1563. O |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/camden-record-soc/vol42/pp362-369 |website=British History Online |publisher=Camden Society, 1848 |access-date=11 December 2022}}</ref> he had 15 children. Thirteen of them are shown in the Essex pedigrees.<ref>Thirteen of them are shown in the Essex pedigrees, W.C. Metcalfe, ''The Visitations of Essex in 1552, 1558, 1570, 1612 and 1634; to which are added miscellaneous Essex pedigrees, (etc).'', Part 1, Harleian Society, Vol. XIII (London 1878), [https://archive.org/stream/visitationsofess13metc#page/276/mode/2up pp. 276–77.]</ref> The eldest son, Robert (1537?–1581), second Baron Rich, supported the [[Protestant Reformation|Reformation]].

One grandson, Richard Rich, was the first husband of [[Katherine Knyvet]]: another, the younger [[Robert Rich, 1st Earl of Warwick|Robert Rich, third Baron Rich]] (1559–1619) was created First [[Earl of Warwick]] (of the third creation) in 1618, and was the father of [[Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick]], who was Commander of the [[Royal Navy|Commonwealth Navy]] during the [[Interregnum (England)|Interregnum]]. This line failed with the death of the [[Edward Rich, 8th Earl of Warwick|8th Earl]] on 7 September 1759.

Rich had an illegitimate son named Richard (d. 1598<ref>{{ODNB|1598|Rich, Sir Nathaniel}}</ref>) whom he acknowledged fully in his will with legacies and guardians for his minority, his education in the common law, and suitable marital arrangements.<ref>[http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1509-1558/member/rich-richard-149697-1567 Rich, Richard (1496/97–1567), of West Smithfield, Middlesex, Rochford and Leighs, Essex, History of Parliament] Retrieved 30 June 2013.</ref> In this line of descent was his grandson the merchant adventurer [[Nathaniel Rich (merchant adventurer)|Sir Nathaniel Rich]], and his great-grandson [[Nathaniel Rich (soldier)|Nathaniel Rich]] (nephew of the elder Nathaniel), a colonel in the [[New Model Army]] during the [[English Civil War]]. One of his distant descendants is [[Rory Stewart]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Stewart |first=Rory|date= 2024|title= Politics On the Edge|page= 391}}</ref>

==Legacy==
Since the mid-16th century Rich has had a reputation for immorality, financial dishonesty, double-dealing, perjury and treachery rarely matched in English history.{{sfn|Carter|2004}} The historian [[Hugh Trevor-Roper]] called Rich a man "of whom nobody has ever spoken a good word".<ref>{{Cite book |year=1983 |title=The Lisle Letters; an abridgment |url=https://archive.org/details/lisleletters00ysou |url-access=registration |editor=Muriel St Clare Byrne |publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]]|isbn=9780226088006 }}</ref>

==Depiction in the arts==
Rich is the supporting villain in the play ''[[A Man for All Seasons (play)|A Man for All Seasons]]'' by [[Robert Bolt]], which shows his slide into corruption. In the subsequent, Oscar-winning [[A Man for All Seasons (1966 film)|film adaptation]], [[John Hurt]] portrays him. Bolt depicts Rich as perjuring himself against More in order to become Attorney-General for Wales. More responds, "Why, Richard, it profits a man nothing to give his soul for the whole world ... but for Wales?" The final line of the film notes that Rich "died in his bed" in juxtaposition with More's martyrdom and the other major characters' untimely deaths. In the [[A Man for All Seasons (1988 film)|1988 remake]] of the film, Jonathan Hackett portrayed Rich.

Rich is a supporting character in [[C. J. Sansom]]'s [[Shardlake series]] of [[historical mystery]] novels, which are set in Henry VIII's reign. Rich is portrayed as a cruel villain who is prepared to subvert justice to enhance his property and position. He has a significant role in the plot of [[Sovereign (Sansom novel)|''Sovereign'']], the third of the series, and in [[Heartstone (novel)|''Heartstone'']], the fifth.

[[Rod Hallett]] played Rich in seasons two, three and four of the [[Showtime (TV network)|Showtime]] series ''[[The Tudors]]''.

Rich (spelled Riche in the novels) appears in [[Hilary Mantel]]'s three volumes about [[Thomas Cromwell]], ''[[Wolf Hall]]'', ''[[Bring Up the Bodies]]'' and ''[[The Mirror & the Light]]''. [[Bryan Dick]] portrays him in the first series of the [[BBC]]'s television adaptation of ''[[Wolf Hall (TV series)|Wolf Hall]]'', which covers the first two novels in the trilogy, and Tom Mothersdale in the second series, which covers the third volume.

==Notes==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==References==
*{{Cite book |last1=Byrne |first1=M. St. Clare |last2=Boland |first2=Bridget |year=1983 |title=The Lisle Letters; An Abridgement |location=Chicago |publisher=Chicago University Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t3PK2aUBOvcC&pg=PA5 |access-date=30 June 2013 |isbn=978-0-226-08800-6 }}
*{{Cite ODNB |last=Carter |first=P.R.N. |year=2004 |title=Rich, Richard, first Baron Rich (1496/7–1567) |id=23491}}  {{DNBfirst|wstitle=Rich, Richard (1496?-1567) <!--NB dash not ndash on wikisource--> |display=Rich, Richard (1496?–1567)}}
*{{Cite book |last=Cokayne |first=George Edward |year=1945 |title=The Complete Peerage, edited by H.A. Doubleday |location=London |publisher=St. Catherine Press |volume=X |page=774 }}
*{{Cite book |editor-last=Metcalfe |editor-first=Walter C. |year=1878 |title=The Visitations of Essex |location=London |publisher=Harleian Society |volume=XIII |pages=276–7 |url=http://audio35.archive.org/stream/visitationsofess1314metc#page/276/mode/2up |access-date=30 June 2013 }}
*{{Cite DNB |last=Pollard |first=Albert Frederick |year=1896 |wstitle=Rich, Richard (1496?-1567)  <!--NB dash not ndash on wikisource--> |display=Rich, Richard (1496?–1567) |volume=48 |pages=123–6 }}
*{{Cite book |last=Sergeaunt |first=John |year=1889 |title=A History of Felsted School |location=London |publisher=Simpkin, Marshall & Co. |page=80 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NZBBAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA80 |access-date=30 June 2013 }}
*{{Cite book |last=Simpson |first=W. Sparrow |year=1870 |title=The Journal of the British Archaeological Association |location=London |publisher=British Archaeological Association |pages=161–3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yQ0rAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA161 |access-date=2 July 2013 }}
*{{Cite book |last=Weir |first=Alison |year=1991 |title=The Six Wives of Henry VIII |location=New York |publisher=Grove Weidenfeld |page=517 }}

==External links==
*[http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/SearchUI/Details?uri=D957582 Will of Sir Richard Rich, Lord Rich, proved 3 June 1568, PROB 11/50/176, National Archives] Retrieved 1 July 2013
*[http://www.luminarium.org/encyclopedia/richardrich.htm ''Luminarium Encyclopedia; England under the Tudors: Richard Rich, 1st Baron Rich'']

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{{Succession box| title=[[Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom)|Speaker of the House of Commons]] | before=[[Humphrey Wingfield|Sir Humphrey Wingfield]] | after=[[Nicholas Hare|Sir Nicholas Hare]]| years=1536}}
{{Succession box| title=[[Lord Chancellor]] | before=[[William Paulet, 1st Marquess of Winchester|William Paulet, Lord St John]]<br /><small>(Keeper of the Great Seal)</small> | after=[[Thomas Goodrich]]<br /><small>(Keeper of the Great Seal)</small> | years=1547–1552}}
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{{s-ttl| title=[[Baron Rich]] | years=1548–1567}}
{{s-aft | after=[[Robert Rich, 2nd Baron Rich|Robert Rich]]}}
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[[Category:1490s births]]
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[[Category:16th-century English nobility]]

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[[Category:Members of the Middle Temple]]

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[[Category:Peers of England created by Edward VI]]
[[Category:Rich family]]
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