Richard Carew (politician, 1555)

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Richard Carew (born July 17, 1555 in Antony House , † November 6, 1620 in Antony House) was an English politician and writer who was elected twice as a member of the House of Commons . Because of his main work, he was best known as the Antiquary of Cornwall .

Origin and education

Richard Carew was born in the Carew von Antony family, a family of the gentry of Cornwall . He was the eldest son of Thomas Carew and his wife Elizabeth Edgcumbe. George Carew was one of his siblings . His father died in 1564, so Richard inherited his family's estates in Cornwall and Devon . His mother and brother Peter Edgcumbe took over his guardianship . From about 1566 he studied at Christ Church College , Oxford, where William Camden and Philip Sidney were among his friends. Obviously without a degree he moved to the Middle Temple in London in 1574 , where he studied law for three years. He then returned to Cornwall to take over management of his inheritance.

Political activity

In 1581 Carew became a Justice of the Peace and from 1582 to 1583 he served as Sheriff of Cornwall. In the general election of 1584 he was elected as a member of the nearby Antony Borough Saltash , on whose election the Carew family had a great influence. In 1585 he introduced a law to promote textile production in Devon and Cornwall. In the election of 1586 he left the candidacy for Saltash to his brother George, who also ran successfully in the two subsequent elections. In 1597 two candidates were elected by George Carew as MP for Saltash, and in 1604 Peter Manwood as candidate for Richard Carew. Richard Carew himself ran again successfully as a member of Parliament for Borough Mitchell in the summer of 1597 , where he held the office of Vogt from 1584. In addition, Carew took on other local offices. From 1586 he was under the command of his relative Walter Raleigh as Deputy Lieutenant and later as Colonel of the Militia responsible for the defense of Cornwall against the Spanish Armada and other attacks. In 1596 he had to repel a small Spanish armed force with his militia regiment that had landed on the western bank of Plymouth Sound in Cawsand Bay .

Activity as an antiquarian and writer

Despite these offices and his political activities, Carew did not make a career at court, but remained a member of the gentry who was connected to his homeland. He managed his estates at Antony and Sheviock in Cornwall and Crediton in Devon and was himself an excellent beekeeper and angler. However, he was best known as a writer and antiquarian . He taught himself Greek, Italian, German, Spanish and French to such an extent that, for example, in 1594 he published Godfrey of Bulloigne, or, The recoverie of Hierusalem , an English translation of Torquato Tasso's book La Gerusalemme Liberata, written in Italian . In the same year he published The Examination of Men's Wits , an English translation of a work by the Italian Camillo Camilli , which was itself a translation of Examen de ingenios by the Spanish Juan Huarte . Carew was probably also the author of the poem A Herring's Tayle, published anonymously in 1598 . In 1607 he published A World of Wonders , a translation of an apology written by Henri Estienne after Herodotus . Carew was also from about 1591 a member of the College of Antiquaries , which often met in the London house of Robert Bruce Cotton . There Carew assisted Sir Henry Spelman and others in their studies. As a linguist, the Anglo-Saxon language was the natural language of England for him , but he also published the essay The excellencie of the English tongue on the importance of Celtic culture for English history and language. Together with Richard Verstegen , Thomas Nashe , Edmund Spenser , William Shakespeare and others, he became involved in a dispute over the extent to which foreign words should be included in the English language. Carew's most famous work, however, is A Survey of Cornwall , which consists of two volumes. As the holder of high local offices and a respected member of the gentry with extensive relatives, Carew was able to fall back on a great deal of information for his work. The first volume contains the history of the country and a description of the geography and climate of Cornwall, although the history is very brief. To do this, he covers topics such as mining and fishing, but also customs and games such as hurling . The second volume contains a description of individual places from east to west.

Despite his varied studies, Carew did not live as a withdrawn scholar, but was an open-minded person who was popular with his friends and family. Because of his education, but also because of his humility and friendliness, he was highly valued by other members of the College of Antiquaries. Several books and other works have been dedicated to him. However, by 1602 he was already sickly. His health continued to deteriorate, and by 1611 he was nearly blind. In 1613 he passed the management of his estates to his eldest surviving son Richard, who after Carew's death thanked his father for his wisdom, justice, kindness and enduring love. He was buried on November 7, 1620 in the crypt of the Church of Antony, according to his request, no mourning robes should be worn.

Family and offspring

  • In 1577 Carew had married Juliana Arundell (1563-1629), a daughter of John Arundell from Trerice and his first wife Katherine Cosworth. With her he had seven sons and three daughters, including:
  • Richard Carew, 1st Baronet (1580–1643)
  • John Carew

Three of his children died in childhood, two more before their father. His heir became his eldest son Richard.

Publications

  • The excellency of the English tongue . In: William Camden: Remaines , London 1614
  • A Survey of Cornwall . Devon and Cornwall Record Society, Exeter 2004, ISBN 0-901853-47-X

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The National Trust: Antony, Cornwall . The National Trust 2010. ISBN 978-1-84359-015-6 , p. 28
personal data
SURNAME Carew, Richard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English politician and writer
DATE OF BIRTH July 17, 1555
PLACE OF BIRTH Antony House
DATE OF DEATH November 6, 1620
Place of death Antony House