Richard Carew (politician, 1641)

Richard Carew (* uncertain: baptized April 21, 1641 ; † before September 18, 1691 ) was an English politician who was elected three times as a member of the House of Commons .

Origin and education

Richard Carew came from the family Carew from Antony , a distinguished family of the gentry of Cornwall . He was the sixth, but fourth oldest surviving son of Alexander Carew and his wife Jane Rolle. His siblings included John Carew, 3rd Baronet . His father was executed as a traitor during the English Civil War in 1644. In his will, his father had earmarked £ 500 for Richard's training as a merchant.

Elected member of the House of Commons

In 1661 Carew traveled to Smyrna in the Levant , where two of his brothers were already active as merchants. Probably in 1673 he returned to England. In 1674 he married Penelope Tanat , daughter of Rice Tanat from Abertanat in Shropshire . His wife's sister had married Sidney Godolphin , a Cornish politician. Presumably as a representative of his brother John Carew, Richard Carew ran unsuccessfully for Borough Saltash in the general election in the spring of 1679 . He then ran successfully for Borough Callington in October 1679 and 1681 with the support of the Rolle family , his mother's relatives . Like his brother John, he probably supported the Exclusion Bill , which is why he was not appointed to any committee as an opponent of the court. He did not appear to run in the 1685 election, but after the Glorious Revolution , he was elected MP for Saltash along with his brother John in 1690. Obviously it was just a placeholder.

Death and controversial inheritance

Carew was buried in Antony on September 18, 1691. His marriage to Penelope Tanat had been childless. He bequeathed the land his wife had inherited in Denbighshire , Montgomeryshire and Shropshire to his brother John. His wife's relatives sued against this, demanding compensation of £ 4,000. It was not until January 1698 that the House of Lords ruled in favor of his nephew Richard Carew, 4th Baronet , who had become his heir after the death of John Carew.

Web links

• Paula Watson: CAREW, Richard (1641-91), of Abertanat, Salop. (History of Parliament Online, Ref Volumes: 1660–1690)
• Eveline Cruickshanks, Stuart Handley: CAREW, Richard (1641-91), of Abertanat, Salop. (History of Parliament Online, Ref Volumes: 1690-1715)