Richard Lovell Edgeworth (31 May 1744 – 13 June 1817) was an

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the State rel ...

politician, writer and

inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea, or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...

. He had 22 children.

Biography

Edgeworth was born in Pierrepont Street,

Bath, England Bath ( RP: , ) is a city in Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman-built baths. At the 2021 census, the population was 94,092. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, west of London and southeast of Bristol. The city becam ...

, son of Richard Edgeworth senior, and great-grandson of Sir Salathiel Lovell through his mother, Jane Lovell, granddaughter of Sir Salathiel. The Edgeworth family came to Ireland in the 1580s. Richard was descended from Francis Edgeworth, appointed joint Clerk of the Crown and Hanaper in 1606, who inherited a fortune from his brother Edward Edgeworth, Bishop of Down and Connor. A

Trinity College, Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Univ ...

and

Corpus Christi College, Oxford Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517 by Richard Fo ...

alumnus, he is credited for creating, among other inventions, a machine to measure the size of a plot of land. He also made strides in developing educational methods. He anticipated the caterpillar track with an invention that he played around with for forty years but that he never successfully developed. He described it as a "cart that carries its own road". He was married four times, including to Honora Sneyd and to Frances Beaufort, older sister of

Francis Beaufort Sir Francis Beaufort ( ; 27 May 1774 – 17 December 1857) was an Irish hydrographer and naval officer who created the Beaufort cipher and the Beaufort scale. Early life Francis Beaufort was descended from French Protestant Hugu ...

of the Royal Navy. Edgeworth and Francis Beaufort installed a

semaphore line An optical telegraph is a line of stations, typically towers, for the purpose of conveying textual information by means of visual signals (a form of optical communication). There are two main types of such systems; the semaphore telegraph whic ...

for Ireland. Edgeworth was a member of the

Lunar Society The Lunar Society of Birmingham was a British dinner club and informal learned society of prominent figures in the Midlands Enlightenment, including industrialists, natural philosophy, natural philosophers and intellectuals, who met regularly b ...

, an informal organisation of Birmingham-based industrialists, scientists and intellectuals that met regularly to discuss and share ideas relating to their fields of interest. Other members included Erasmus Darwin,

Josiah Wedgwood Josiah Wedgwood (12 July 1730 – 3 January 1795) was an English potter, entrepreneur and abolitionist. Founding the Wedgwood company in 1759, he developed improved pottery bodies by systematic experimentation, and was the leader in the indu ...

and

James Watt James Watt (; 30 January 1736 (19 January 1736 OS) – 25 August 1819) was a Scottish inventor, mechanical engineer, and chemist who improved on Thomas Newcomen's 1712 Newcomen steam engine with his Watt steam engine in 1776, which was f ...

. Richard Edgeworth and his family lived in Ireland at his estate at Edgeworthstown,

County Longford County Longford () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Longford. Longford County Council is the Local government in the Republic ...

, where he reclaimed bogs and improved roads. He sat in Grattan's Parliament for St Johnstown (County Longford) from 1798 until the Act of Union in 1801, and advocated Catholic Emancipation and parliamentary reform. He was a founder-member of the

Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the natural sciences, arts, literature, and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned society and one of its le ...

. He died in Edgeworthstown on 13 June 1817.

Family

He was the father of 22 children by his four wives # Anna Maria Elers (1743–1773), of whom five children #: Richard Edgeworth (1765–1796), m. Elizabeth Knight 1788. Died in America #: Lovell Edgeworth (1766–1766) #:

Maria Edgeworth Maria Edgeworth (1 January 1768 – 22 May 1849) was a prolific Anglo-Irish novelist of adults' and children's literature. She was one of the first realist writers in children's literature and a significant figure in the evolution of the novel i ...

(1768–1849) the novelist #: Emmeline Edgeworth (1770–1817), married Dr. John King of Bristol, October 1802 #: Anna Maria Edgeworth (1773–1824), married Dr.

Thomas Beddoes Thomas Beddoes (13 April 176024 December 1808) was an English physician and scientific writer. He was born in Shifnal, Shropshire and died in Bristol fifteen years after opening his medical practice there. He was a reforming practitioner and te ...

1794. # Honora Sneyd (1751 – 1 May 1780), of whom two children #: Honora Edgeworth (1774–1790) #: Lovell Edgeworth (1775–1842), who inherited the property # Elizabeth Sneyd (1753–1797), sister of Honora Sneyd, of whom five sons and four daughters #: Elizabeth Edgeworth (1781–1805) #: Henry Edgeworth (1782–1813) #: Charlotte Edgeworth (1783–1807) #: Sophia Edgeworth (1784–1784) #: Charles Sneyd Edgeworth (1786–1864) m. Henrica Broadhurst 1813, succeeded his brother Lovell Edgeworth #: William Edgeworth (1788–1790) #: Thomas Day Edgeworth (1789–1792) #: Honora Edgeworth (1792–1858), married

(his brother-in-law from his fourth marriage) in 1838 #: William Edgeworth (1794–1829), engineer. # Frances Ann Beaufort (1769–1865), botanical artist, daughter of

Daniel Augustus Beaufort Daniel Augustus Beaufort LL.D. (1 October 1739 – 1821), was an Anglican priest and geographer, born in England to French Huguenot parents. He was rector of Navan, County Meath, Ireland, from 1765 to 1818, and a talented amateur architect also ...

and Mary Waller, of whom six children #: Frances Maria Edgeworth (1799–1848) m. Lestock Wilson 1829 #: Harriet Edgeworth (1801–1889) m. Richard Butler 1826 #: Sophia Edgeworth (1803–1836) m. Barry Fox 1824 #: Lucy Jane (1805–1897), married the Irish astronomer Thomas Romney Robinson 1843. #: Francis Beaufort Edgeworth (1809–1846), Mentioned in

Thomas Carlyle Thomas Carlyle (4 December 17955 February 1881) was a Scottish essayist, historian, and philosopher. Known as the "Sage writing, sage of Chelsea, London, Chelsea", his writings strongly influenced the intellectual and artistic culture of the V ...

's ''Life of Sterling.'' Married Rosa Florentina Eroles of Spain.Barbe, L. (2010), ''Francis Ysidro Edgeworth : A Portrait with Family and Friends'', translated from Catalan by M.C. Black. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited #: Michael Pakenham Edgeworth (1812–1881), m. Christina Macpherson 1846, botanist.

References

Bibliography

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External links

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The four wives of Richard Edgeworth
Portraits
The Edgeworth Family, National Portrait Gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edgeworth, Richard Lovell 1744 births 1817 deaths People from Bath, Somerset People from Lichfield Alumni of Trinity College Dublin English inventors English non-fiction writers Irish MPs 1798–1800 Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Longford constituencies Members of the Royal Irish Academy Fellows of the Royal Society English male non-fiction writers People from Edgeworthstown