Richard Godolphin Long
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Richard Godolphin Long (2 October 1761 – 1 July 1835) was an English banker and
Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...
politician.


Life and career

Baptised at West Lavington, Wiltshire a month after his birth, he was the son of Richard Long (died 1787) and his wife Meliora, descendant of Sir John Lambe. By 1800, Long was a partner in the Melksham Bank, together with his younger brother John Long, John Awdry and Thomas Bruges. In 1799, he purchased
Steeple Ashton Steeple Ashton is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, east of Trowbridge. In 2021 the parish had a population of 1221. In the north of the parish are the hamlets of Ashton Common and Bullenhill. Name and history Until the Dis ...
Manor House and farm, which remained in the family until 1967, and commissioned architect
Jeffry Wyattville Sir Jeffry Wyatville (3 August 1766 – 18 February 1840) was an English architect and garden designer. Born Jeffry Wyatt into an established dynasty of architects, in 1824 he was allowed by King George IV to change his surname to Wyatville ...
to build
Rood Ashton House Rood Ashton House was a country house in Wiltshire, England, standing in parkland northeast of the village of West Ashton, near Trowbridge. Built in 1808 for Richard Godolphin Long, it was later the home of the 1st Viscount Long (1854–1924) ...
nearby in 1808. He was appointed
High Sheriff of Wiltshire This is a list of the sheriffs and (after 1 April 1974) high sheriffs of Wiltshire. Until the 14th century, the shrievalty was held ''ex officio'' by the castellans of Old Sarum Castle. On 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Go ...
for 1794. Long entered 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 ...
in 1806, sitting for
Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...
until 1818. He was the founder of the
Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry The Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry (RWY) was a Yeomanry regiment of the Kingdom of Great Britain and the United Kingdom established in 1794. It was disbanded as an independent Army Reserve (United Kingdom), Territorial Army unit in 1967, a time when t ...
.


Family

On 28 March 1786, he married Florentina Wrey, third daughter of Sir Bourchier Wrey, 6th Baronet, and had by her four daughters and two sons. After a lingering illness Long died aged 73, at Rood Ashton House, six weeks after his wife, and was interred in the family's crypt at St Mary's Church, Steeple Ashton. Their children included: *
Walter Walter may refer to: People and fictional characters * Walter (name), including a list of people and fictional and mythical characters with the given name or surname * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–19 ...
(1793–1867), the eldest son, was also a member of parliament, representing
North Wiltshire North Wiltshire was a Districts of England, local government district in Wiltshire, England, between 1974 and 2009, when it was superseded by the unitary area of Wiltshire (district), Wiltshire. The district was formed on 1 April 1974 by a me ...
* Ellen, the eldest daughter, married John Walmesley in 1812; their children included Richard Walmesley (1816–1893), a lawyer and latterly owner of Lucknam Park, Wiltshire * Florentina (Flora), having been previously engaged to Henry Cobbe (uncle of
Frances Power Cobbe Frances Power Cobbe (4 December 1822 – 5 April 1904) was an Anglo-Irish writer, philosopher, religious thinker, social reformer, anti-vivisection activist and leading women's suffrage campaigner. She founded a number of animal advocacy grou ...
), who had died the day before the proposed marriage, formed a strong attachment to the then-elderly poet
George Crabbe George Crabbe ( ; 24 December 1754 – 3 February 1832) was an English poet, surgeon and clergyman. He is best known for his early use of the realistic narrative form and his descriptions of middle and working-class life and people. In the 177 ...
. Flora and her aunts were frequent visitors of novelist
Jane Austen Jane Austen ( ; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for #List of works, her six novels, which implicitly interpret, critique, and comment on the English landed gentry at the end of the 18th century ...
, who referred to Flora as her 'cousin', though their exact relationship is not known. Austen never met Crabbe, but nursed a fantasy of becoming his wife.


Notes


Further reading

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Long, Richard Godolphin 1761 births 1835 deaths High sheriffs of Wiltshire Richard Godolphin Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Wiltshire Tory MPs (pre-1834) UK MPs 1806–1807 UK MPs 1807–1812 UK MPs 1812–1818 Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry officers