Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick
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Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick (1587–1658) was an English colonial administrator and admiral.
Rich was the eldest son of Robert Rich, 1st Earl of Warwick and of his wife Penelope Devereux, Lady Rich, and succeeded to the earldom of Warwick in 1619. His younger brother was Henry Rich, 1st Earl of Holland. Developing an early interest in colonial ventures, he joined the Guinea, New England and Virginia companies, and the Virginia Company's offspring, the Somers Isles Company. His enterprises involved him in disputes with the British East India Company (1617) and with the Virginia Company, which in 1624 was suppressed as a result of his action. In 1627 he commanded an unsuccessful privateering expedition against the Spaniards. His Puritan connections and sympathies gradually estranged him from the court, but promoted his association with the New England colonies. In 1628 he indirectly procured the patent for the Massachusetts colony, and in 1631 he granted the "Saybrook" patent in Connecticut. Forced to resign the presidency of the New England Company in the same year, he continued to manage the Somers Isles Company and Providence Company, the latter of which, founded in 1630, administered Old Providence on the Mosquito Coast. Meanwhile in England Warwick opposed the forced loan of 1626, the payment of ship money and Laud's church policy.
His Richneck Plantation was located in what is now the independent city of Newport News, Virginia. The Warwick River, Warwick Towne, and Warwick River Shire are all believed named for him, as are Warwick, Rhode Island and Warwick Parish in Bermuda (alias The Somers Isles).
[edit] Reference
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
| Honorary Titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by: The Earl of Sussex | Lord Lieutenant of Essex jointly with The Earl of Sussex 1625–1629, The Earl of Portland 1629–1635, The Lord Maynard 1635–1640 and The Earl of Carlisle 1641–1642 1625–1642 | Succeeded by: The Earl of Carlisle |
| Preceded by: The Lord Maynard | Custos Rotulorum of Essex 1640–1642 | |
| Peerage of England | ||
| Preceded by: Robert Rich | Earl of Warwick 1619–1658 | Succeeded by: Robert Rich |
