Richard Neville DL (30 May 1615 – 7 October 1676) served in the English Civil War as a

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...

. He came to prominence as commander at the

First Battle of Newbury The First Battle of Newbury was a battle of the First English Civil War that was fought on 20 September 1643 between a Royalist army, under the personal command of King Charles, and a Parliamentarian force led by the Earl of Essex. Following ...

in 1643 when he commanded the Royalist troops.

Biography

Neville was born at

Billingbear House Billingbear House was an English country house situated in the parish of Waltham St. Lawrence in Berkshire, England, about six miles from Windsor. Originally owned by the Bishop of Winchester, the land was given to Sir Henry Neville (father o ...

Waltham St Lawrence Waltham St Lawrence is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the English county of Berkshire. Toponymy The name 'Waltham' is believed to be derived from the Anglo-Saxon words ''Wealt'' and ''Ham'', meaning 'homestead or vill ...

, the son and heir of Sir Henry Neville (died 1629) and educated at

Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the 16 "old colleges" of the university, and was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. Its buildings span the R ...

(1631). He was the elder brother of the writer Henry Neville. His mother, Elizabeth (née Smyth), was given immediate rights to the manor in her lifetime, remarried Sir John Thorowgood and lived until 1669. Neville's grandfather was Henry Neville, the Elizabethan politician, diplomat and courtier. Neville joined the Royalists and served under the

Earl of Carnarvon Earl of Carnarvon is a title that has been created three times in British history. The current holder is George Herbert, 8th Earl of Carnarvon. The town and county in Wales to which the title refers are historically spelled Caernarfon, having b ...

at the Battle of Newbury in 1643. Carnarvon was killed and Neville took up the command as a Colonel of Horse. He was appointed

High Sheriff of Berkshire The High Sheriff of Berkshire, in common with other counties, was originally the King's representative on taxation upholding the law in Anglo-Saxons, Saxon times. The word Sheriff evolved from 'shire-reeve'. The title of High Sheriff#United King ...

for 1643–44 and in April 1644 he was commissioned to raise an auxiliary regiment of the Berkshire Trained Bands to garrison

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

. The following month the Royalists demolished the fortifications of the town and withdrew to their main base at

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, where Neville's regiment continued to serve.Emma Elizabeth Thoyts, ''History of the Royal Berkshire Militia (Now 3rd Battalion Royal Berks Regiment)'', Sulhamstead, Berks, 1897/Scholar Select, ISBN 978-1-37645405-5, p. 34. He was with King Charles I at Oxford in 1646. After the Restoration of the Monarchy he became a Justice of the Peace and Deputy Lieutenant for Berkshire from 1660 to his death. In 1667 Waltham St Lawrence Parish Registers recorded that:

September 17th, 1667, King Charles 2nd, with his brother James Duke of Yorke, Prince Rupert Duke of Cumberland, James Duke of Monmouth and many more of the nobles dined at Bellingbeare in the great Parlour.Waltham St Lawrence Parish Registers

In 1670 he was elected to Parliament as

Knight of the Shire Knight of the shire () was the formal title for a member of parliament (MP) representing a county constituency in the British House of Commons, from its origins in the medieval Parliament of England until the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 ...

(MP) for

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

. He married Anne, the daughter of Sir John Heydon,

Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance The Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance was a member of the British Board of Ordnance and the deputy of the Master-General of the Ordnance. The office was established in 1545, and the holder was appointed by the crown under letters patent. It wa ...

, of Baconthorpe, Norfolk and had two sons and five daughters. When Neville died he was buried at Waltham St Lawrence. He left his estates to his elder son, John, who died childless and so they afterwards passed to

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'st ...

, the younger son.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Neville, Richard soldier 1615 births 1676 deaths People from Waltham St Lawrence Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge 17th-century English soldiers Cavaliers

English MPs 1661–1679 Deputy lieutenants of Berkshire High sheriffs of Berkshire Royal Berkshire Militia officers Members of the Parliament of England for Berkshire Military personnel from Berkshire