Richard Neville Aldworth Neville (3 September 1717 – 17 July 1793) was an English politician and diplomat.

Life

The only son of Richard Aldworth of Stanlake, by Catherine, daughter of Richard Neville of

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 ...

, he was born on 3 September 1717; through his mother he was descended from Sir Henry Neville. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

, where he was on good terms with Lord Sandwich, Lord Rochford, Lord Orford, Owen Cambridge, and

Jacob Bryant Jacob Bryant (1715–1804) was an English scholar and mythographer, who has been described as "the outstanding figure among the mythagogues who flourished in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries." Life Bryant was born at Plymouth ...

. On 12 July 1736 he matriculated at

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 126 ...

. Instead of finishing his course at Oxford Aldworth travelled abroad. In 1739 he visited

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

, and he spent every winter there till 1744, with other English visitors:

John Hervey, 2nd Baron Hervey John Hervey, 2nd Baron Hervey, (13 October 16965 August 1743) was an English courtier and political writer. Heir to the Earl of Bristol, he obtained the key patronage of Walpole, and was involved in many court intrigues and literary quarrel ...

, William Windham Sr., and

Benjamin Stillingfleet Benjamin Stillingfleet (1702–1771) was an English botanist, polymath, and author. Life Benjamin Stillingfleet was born in 1702 in Wood Norton, Norfolk to Mary Ann and Edward Stillingfleet. He was one of four children, and the only son.I. ...

. He later contributed to William Coxe's ''Literary life and Select works of Benjamin Stillingfleet'' (1811). At the general election of 1747 Neville became Member of Parliament for

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 ...

. He represented

Wallingford Wallingford may refer to: People Surname * Darcy Wallingford (fl. 1980s), Canadian swimmer * Jesse Wallingford (1872–1944), British sport shooter and New Zealand army officer * Sidney Wallingford (1898–1978), British-born aviator and New Zeal ...

from 1754 to 1761, and

Tavistock Tavistock ( ) is an ancient stannary and market town and civil parish in the West Devon district, in the county of Devon, England. It is situated on the River Tavy, from which its name derives. At the 2011 census, the three electoral wards (N ...

from 1761 to 1768, and again till 1774. He joined the Whigs, and had the support of the

Duke of Bedford Duke of Bedford (named after Bedford, England) is a title that has been created six times (for five distinct people) in the Peerage of England. The first creation came in 1414 for Henry IV's third son, John, who later served as regent of Fran ...

. He was appointed under-secretary of state for the southern department on 13 February 1748, under Bedford, and held office till his chief's resignation, 12 July 1751. He was also joint secretary to the council of regency in 1748 and 1750. Aldworth assumed the name and arms of Neville in August 1762, when, on the death of the Countess of Portsmouth, widow of his maternal uncle Henry Neville Grey, he succeeded to the estate of

Billingbear Billingbear is a hamlet in the civil parish of Binfield and a former country estate in the civil parish of Waltham St Lawrence, near Bracknell, in the English county of Berkshire. Geography The settlement lies between the M4 motorway and the ...

. On 4 September 1762 he became secretary to the embassy at Paris. Bedford was acting as British plenipotentiary at the conference then summoned to consider the terms of peace between England and France in the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

. Walpole credited Neville with causing a delay in the signature of the preliminaries, till the capture of

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center. Neville soon returned to Paris to act as plenipotentiary until the arrival of the

Earl of Hertford Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the Peerages in the United Kingdom, peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. A feminine form of ''earl'' never developed; instead, ...

, Bedford's successor, in May 1763. While he was at

Compiègne Compiègne (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Oise Departments of France, department of northern France. It is located on the river Oise (river), Oise, and its inhabitants are called ''Compiégnois'' (). Administration Compiègne is t ...

in August,

John Wilkes John Wilkes (17 October 1725 – 26 December 1797) was an English Radicalism (historical), radical journalist and politician, as well as a magistrate, essayist and soldier. He was first elected a Member of Parliament in 1757. In the Middlese ...

visited him;

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached maturity (then defi ...

gave him his picture set with diamonds. After his return England he took no significant part in public affairs. He suffered from

gout Gout ( ) is a form of inflammatory arthritis characterized by recurrent attacks of pain in a red, tender, hot, and Joint effusion, swollen joint, caused by the deposition of needle-like crystals of uric acid known as monosodium urate crysta ...

, and died at

, after a lingering illness, on 17 July 1793. He is buried nearby at

Ruscombe Ruscombe is a village and civil parish, east of Twyford in the Borough of Wokingham in Berkshire, England. History Reports from the late 1800s provided summaries of the status of the village; in 1876, the population was 200 and that increased ...

with a monument sculpted by

John Flaxman John Flaxman (6 July 1755 – 7 December 1826) was a British sculptor and draughtsman, and a leading figure in British and European Neoclassicism. Early in his career, he worked as a modeller for Josiah Wedgwood's pottery. He spent several yea ...

.Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851 by Rupert Gunnis p.150

Family

By his wife Magdalen, daughter of Francis Calandrini, first syndic of Geneva, whom he married in 1748, and who died in 1750, Neville had two children: a daughter Frances, who became the wife of Francis Jalabert, and

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 ...

Notes

External links

historyofparliamentonline.org, ''Aldworth, Richard Neville (1717-93), of Stanlake and Billingbear, Berks''.
Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Neville, Richard Neville Aldworth 1717 births 1793 deaths Alumni of Merton College, Oxford People educated at Eton College British MPs 1747–1754 British MPs 1754–1761 British MPs 1761–1768 British MPs 1768–1774 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Tavistock