Richard Hampden

For the English politician, seeRichard Hampden (1674–1728).

Arms of Hampden:Argent, a saltire gules between four eagles displayed azure

Richard Hampden(baptized 13 October 1631 – 15 December 1695) was anEnglishWhigpolitician and son ofShip moneytax protesterJohn Hampden.He was sworn aPrivy Counsellorin 1689 and wasChancellor of the Exchequerfrom 18 March 1690 until 10 May 1694.

Life

Like his father and son he sided with Parliament against theHouse of Stuart.During theinterregnumhe was electedMember of ParliamentforBuckinghamshirein theSecond Protectorate Parliamentof 1656and voted in favour of offering the crown to theLord ProtectorOliver Cromwell. In 1657 he entered theOther House(the protectorate's House of Lords). He purchased the manors of Wendover Borough and Forrens fromJohn Baldwinin 1660.Also in 1660 he was elected MP forWendover(a constituency dominated by his family) in theConvention Parliament,and was elected to represent the same constituency in theCavalier Parliament(1661–1679).After the fall ofEarl of Clarendonin 1667, he became more active in politics, voicing his opposition to thewar with the Dutchand the alliance with France. By the latter half of the 1670s, he was considered by theEarl of Shaftesburyto be an ally. Hampden was particularly active duringthe Popish Plotand undermined the authority of the Lord Treasurer theEarl of Danby.

He was re-elected to theParliaments of 1679and played an active part in the attempt to pass theExclusion Billto bar theDuke of Yorkfrom the succession and also supported the bill to give toleration to Protestant dissenters. In 1681 he was elected to theOxford Parliamentfor the county of Buckinghamshire (exchanging seats with his sonJohn Hampden). During the convening of this short parliament he again supported exclusion.

In 1685, Hampden again represented the borough of Wendover but was far less active in politics as KingJames II,the man Hampden had tried to exclude from the succession, was now king. After the successful invasion byWilliam of Orange,he chaired the committee of members of James II's parliament that on 27 December 1688, invited William to call a convention and to take over the government in the interim. Hampden sat in theConvention Parliamentof 1689 and was a central figure in the enabling legislation to crown William and Mary. In February 1689 he became a privy councillor, and on 9 April became a commissioner of the Treasury.

In 1690 he represented the county of Buckinghamshire in William and Mary's first parliament, and in the same year was madeChancellor of the Exchequer.During the next five years, when his health allowed, he was active in the government. He did not stand for re-election to William and Mary's second parliament in 1695, and died on 15 December 1695.

Family

He married Letitia Paget, daughter ofWilliam Paget, 5th Baron Paget,and had three children:

• John Hampden
• Richard Hampden, died young
• Isabella Hampden, marriedSir William Ellys,2nd Baronet.