Robert Rich, 2nd Baron Rich

Robert Rich, 2nd Baron Rich (c1537-1581) was an English nobleman.

He was the eldest son of Richard Rich, 1st Baron Rich by his wife Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of William Jenks of London.[1]

He married around 1555 Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of George Baldrey (d. 1540)[2] and granddaughter of Sir Thomas Baldry, Lord Mayor of London in 1514.[3] Their children were:[1]

His father was reprimanded by the privy council in 1562 for seeking to have Rich elected as knight of the shire in preference to William Petre.[4] This may have been due to suspicions of Petre's religious views, as Rich was a strong Protestant who later had the Calvinist Robert Wright as his domestic chaplain.[5]

In 1578 a dispute between Rich and one Edward Windham led to skirmishes in Fleet Street between their servants,[6] which resulted in Windham's imprisonment.[7] Following his death his property in London and Essex was valued at £1,857.[8]

He is presumably the kneeling figure represented on the monument to his father in Felsted church.[9]

  1. ^ a b The Visitations of Essex by Hawley, 1552; Hervey, 1558; Cooke, 1570; Raven, 1612; and Owen and Lilly, 1634. Harleian Society. 1878. p. 277.
  2. ^ "VCH Buckingham, Vol. 4:Akeley". Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  3. ^ "Aldermen of the City of London, 1502-1700". British History Online. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  4. ^ CSPD Edward VI, Mary, Elizabeth. p. 212.
  5. ^ Neal, Daniel (1837). The history of the Puritans or Protestant non-conformists. p. 250.
  6. ^ Stone, Lawrence (1965). The Crisis of the Aristocracy, 1558-1641. pp. 231–2.
  7. ^ CSPD Edward VI, Mary, Elizabeth. p. 620.
  8. ^ "Calendar of the Cecil Papers in Hatfield House, Vol. 4:November 1591". Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  9. ^ "An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Essex, Vol. 2:Felstead". British History Online. Retrieved 10 November 2023.