Sir Richard Hopkins (died 1736) of St. Botolph's, Bishopsgate, London was a British merchant and politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the 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 parliament. ...

from 1724 to 1727. Hopkins was born after 1676, the son of Richard Hopkins of St. Botolph's and his wife Rose Sherard, daughter of George Sherard of Bushby, Leicestershire. He became a merchant trading with Turkey and member of the Cutler's Company. He married Ann Lethieullier, daughter of William Lethieullier, merchant of London. Hopkins was Director of the

Royal Exchange Assurance Corporation The Royal Exchange Assurance, founded in 1720, was a British insurance company. It took its name from the location of its offices at the Royal Exchange, London. Origins The Royal Exchange Assurance emerged from a joint stock insurance enterpr ...

in 1720 and became a Director of the

South Sea Company The South Sea Company (officially The Governor and Company of the merchants of Great Britain, trading to the South Seas and other parts of America, and for the encouragement of the Fishery) was a British joint-stock company founded in Ja ...

in 1721 for the rest of his life. He was knighted on 26 July 1722. In 1723, he stood as a Whig in a hard-fought contest for

Sheriff of London Two sheriffs are elected annually for the City of London by the Liverymen of the City livery companies. Today's sheriffs have only nominal duties, but the historical officeholders had important judicial responsibilities. They have attended the ju ...

and served for the year 1723 to 1724. He was elected Alderman for Lime Street Ward on 4 March 1724. Also in 1724, he was elected

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

for the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

at a by-election on 11 December 1724. He lost the seat in the contest at the 1727 general election. He translated to the Fishmongers Company on 26 May 1730 and was prime warden of the Fishmongers’ Company from. 1730 to 1732. He became Sub Governor of the South Sea Company in 1733. Hopkins died on 2 January 1736 and was said to be worth £100,000.

External links

Portrait of Sir Richard Hopkins

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hopkins, Richard (died 1736) Year of birth missing 1736 deaths Sheriffs of the City of London Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1722–1727