Richard Legh (7 May 1634 – 31 August 1687) was an English politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

variously between 1656 and 1678. Legh was the son of Rev. Thomas Legh, DD of Cheshire and rector of Sefton and Walton, Lancashire. He inherited the

Lyme Park Lyme Park is a large Estate (land), estate south of Disley, Cheshire, England. It is managed by the National Trust and consists of a mansion house surrounded by formal gardens and a Deer park (England), deer park in the Peak District National ...

estate in Cheshire from his uncle Francis Legh in 1643. He was educated at Winwick, Lancashire and admitted at

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

on 18 June 1649. He was admitted at

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

on 23 May 1653. In 1656, Legh was elected Member of Parliament for

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

in the

Second Protectorate Parliament The Second Protectorate Parliament in England sat for two sessions from 17 September 1656 until 4 February 1658, with Thomas Widdrington as the Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom), Speaker of the House of Commons. In its first sess ...

and was re-elected in 1659 for the

Third Protectorate Parliament The Third Protectorate Parliament sat for one session, from 27 January 1659 until 22 April 1659, with Chaloner Chute and Thomas Bampfylde as the Speakers of the House of Commons. It was a bicameral Parliament, with an Upper House having a po ...

.History of Parliament Online - Legh, Richard
/ref> In 1660, Legh was elected MP for

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in the Convention Parliament and was re-elected in 1661 for the

Cavalier Parliament The Cavalier Parliament of England lasted from 8 May 1661 until 24 January 1679. With the exception of the Long Parliament, it was the longest-lasting English Parliament, and longer than any Great British or UK Parliament to date, enduring ...

. He held the seat until 1679. Legh died at the age of 53 at Lyme Cheshire and was buried at Winwick, Lancashire. Legh married Elizabeth Chicheley, daughter of Sir Thomas Chicheley, of Wimpole, Cambridgeshire.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Legh, Richard 1634 births 1687 deaths Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Members of Gray's Inn Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for constituencies in Cheshire English MPs 1656–1658 English MPs 1659 English MPs 1660 English MPs 1661–1679