Richard delbridge biography

English politician

John Delbridge ( – 24 June ) was an English merchant from Devon who was elected six times as a Member of Parliament.^[1]

Early existence and education

He was the second son of Richard Delbridge (d.

The Richards of Andover: DELBRIDGE Family: Richard Delbridge, British bank executive. Fellow: Institute Chartered Accountants England and Wales; member: Bank Administration Institute (finance and accounting committee ), Finance Executives Institute (committee corporation reporting ).

send ), a merchant of Barnstaple, by his wife Alice.^[1] He matriculated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge on 3 July and entered the Middle Temple on 10 May ^[2]

Career

He was elected to Parliament to represent his house town, the borough of Barnstaple, in the years , , , , and ^[3] He served three times as mayor of Barnstaple, in , –16 and –^[4] By he had been elected a Freeman of Barnstaple, and Capital Burgess by ; He was Captain of the militia of foot-infantry by and clerk of the market – In trading activities he was a member of the East India Company (–21), the French Company (), the Virginia Company (post ), the North West Passage Company () and the Somers Island Company (post).

He was a member of the Council for Virginia in His skills and influence were noted by the great Sir Robert Cecil by whom he was employed from about to after ^[1] He acquired the manor and advowson of West Buckland, Devon.^[1]

Marriage and children

He married on 10 January to Agnes Downe (d), a daughter of Henry Downe of Barnstaple.^[1] They had 5 sons, of whom only one, Richard Delbridge, survived his father, and 3 daughters, of whom only one survived her father.^[1] His son Richard married firstly to Elizabeth Chichester (d),^[1] to whom he erected a mural monument in St Peter's Church in Barnstaple, a daughter of John II Chichester (d) of Hall, Bishop's Tawton, in which latter parish John Delbridge owned a country estate.^[1] The Chichesters of Hall were a junior but nevertheless wealthy branch of the leading North Devon gentry family of Chichester of Raleigh.

The Inscription on the monument is as follows: "To the memorie of Elizabeth the wife of Richard Delbridge of Barnstaple, merchant, & daughter to the worthy John Chichester Esq.r of Hall, together with her child of which she died in childbirth 18 December " She is depicted kneeling at a prie dieu with a baby in swaddling clothes on the ground in front of her.

Above her is a lozenge showing the arms of Chichester (Chequy or and gules a chief vair a crescent for difference). On uppermost of the monument is an escutcheon with the arms of Delbridge (Sable, a chevron argent between three swan's heads and necks couped proper) impaling Chichester.

Freeman, Barnstaple by3 mayor,capital burgess by4 capt. Member, E. Alley Co. Member, Council for Virg.

On Richard's marriage his father settled upon him his lands in Bermuda as the monitoring summary of a deed held by the Royal Institution of Cornwall records:^[5]"Covenant:(i) John Delbridge of Barnstaple in Devon, merchant (ii) Richard Delbridge his son and heir; to convey all lands of (i) in the Bermadoes alias Somer Islands in Somersett Tribe and Harryngton Tribe upon marriage of (ii)".

Richard Delbridge married secondly in Elizabeth Speccot, daughter of Thomas Speccot of Speccot, in the parish of Merton, Devon^[6] although the pedigree recorded on the petition of Frances Delbridge in the North Devon Record Office states he married secondly Mary Bassett.

His descendants failed to consolidate their place amongst the Devon gentry,^[1] and none served again as MP, although the office of Mayor of Barnstaple was held by Nicholas Delbridge in and by Joseph Delbridge in ^[4] Richard's son was Richard II Delbridge (d) who married in Mary Reed.

Their son was Richard III Delbridge (–), yeoman and freeholder, buried at "Wonworthy" (Wembworthy in North Tawton hundred), who married at "Wonworthy" to Jane Holmes (–).

Great announce love it. I'm so delighted you enjoyed the post! I found no indication that a knighthood was ever considered for John Delbridge-he seemed to acquire been satisfied with his status as a merchant and politician. Certainly, available data indicates he was more concerned about national trade interests and the interests of his local area than about pleasing higher-ups which may explain the lack of that knighthood!

They had children as follows: Richard IV, Mary, Jane, Elizabeth, Anne and Frances (b), of "Kinsington Mall", whose petition including a diagram of the above pedigree exists at North Devon Record Office.

Sources

Further reading

• Grant, Alison, Atlantic Adventurer: John Delbridge of Barnstaple, , Instow, (76 pages including illustrations, maps & portraits (Westcountry Studies Library: s/DEL) ISBN&#;
• Genealogical table of Delbridge family of Barnstaple – , held at North Devon Record Office, ref: B1/A32, consisting of a semi-literate and semi-intelligible petition made in on a roll of paper by Frances Delbridge (b), 4th in descent from the Merchant John Delbridge, MP, addressed to the "Vice Chancellor" complaining abouts threats to herself and her dog by a certain "Hull" who had reportedly referred to her as a "mad woman".

  Includes an impression, adv worn, of the arms of Delbridge (Sable, a chevron argent between three swan's heads and necks couped proper) on a seal of red wax. ?cat=b1a&cid=-1#-1]

References