Richard Philip Oliver (1763 – 14 April 1843), later known as Richard Oliver Gascoigne, was an Irish landowner at

Castle Oliver Castle Oliver (also ''Clonodfoy'') is a Victorian castle-style country house in the southern part of County Limerick, Ireland. Built for entertaining rather than for defense, it has a ballroom, drawing room, library, morning room, dining room a ...

in County Limerick and

Parlington Hall Parlington Hall was the seat of the Gascoigne family, Aberford near Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. History The Parlington estate was acquired by the Gascoignes from the Wentworth family in 1546. The hall was modified by successive family m ...

in Yorkshire.

Early life

He was the eldest surviving son of Isabella Sarah (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Newman) Oliver and Silver Oliver of Castle Oliver in County Limerick. His father sat in the

Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until the end of 1800. The upper house was the Irish House of Lords, House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, ...

for

County Limerick County Limerick () is a western Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Reg ...

. His paternal grandparents were Jane Katherine (née Silver) Oliver and Robert Oliver, who also sat in the Irish House of Commons.

Career

He served as

High Sheriff of Yorkshire The Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities associated with the post have been transferred elsewhere o ...

in 1816. Gascoigne lived at

in Yorkshire for 33 years. During his time there, he completed several improvements, including construction of the Dark Arch built between 1813 and 1814, a tunnel of around 80 yards in a sweeping curve along the line of Parlington Lane, as well as the Light Arch. He invested in the agricultural interests at Parlington, developing mineral assets on the estate, particularly coal mining. Gascoigne also established a racing team there. He won (along with

Thomas Foley, 3rd Baron Foley Thomas Foley, 3rd Baron Foley PC, DL (22 December 1780 – 16 April 1833), was a British peer and Whig politician. He served as Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen Pensioners under Lord Grey between 1830 and 1833. Background Foley ...

) the

St Leger The St Leger Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Doncaster over ...

in 1811 with Soothsayer, and again in 1824 (with Lord Kelburne) with a famous horse called Jerry before retiring from the turf around 1835.

Personal life

On 3 May 1804, he was married by special licence to Mary Turner (1782–1819) at Parlington Hall. Mary was the daughter of

Sir Charles Turner, 1st Baronet, of Kirkleatham Sir Charles Turner, 1st Baronet (11 November 1727 – 26 October 1783) was a British politician and Lord Mayor of York. Early life Turner was the son and heir of Jane (née Bathurst) Turner and William Turner, of Kirkleatham, in present-day R ...

and step-daughter of

Sir Thomas Gascoigne, 8th Baronet Sir Thomas Gascoigne, 8th Baronet (7 March 1745 – 11 February 1810) was born on 7 March 1745 on the Continent into a devout Catholic gentry family based in Yorkshire. Despite receiving a solid Catholic education at institutions in northern Fr ...

, upon whose death Richard and Mary inherited a life interest in the estates following the death of Mary's step brother and Gascoigne heir Tom in a hunting accident in October 1809. In accordance with the will they assumed the name and arms of Gascoigne in 1811. Together, they were the parents of four children: * Thomas Oliver Gascoigne (1806–1842), who died of a palsy while in London. * Richard Silver Oliver Gascoigne (1808–1842), who died on Christmas Day 1842. * Mary Isabella Oliver Gascoigne (1810–1891), who married Colonel Frederick Charles Trench (later Trench-Gascoigne) in 1850; she was the mother of Col. F. R. T. Trench-Gascoigne. * Elizabeth Oliver Gascoigne (1812–1893), who married Frederick Mason Trench, 2nd Baron Ashtown in 1852.E. M. Johnston-Liik, ''History of the Irish Parliament 1692–1800'', vol. V, pp. 401–402. Mary died in 1819, aged 36, and was buried at Barwick in Elmet. Gascoigne died on 14 April 1843, aged 80, and was buried at Aberford. Their two surviving daughters inherited the Gascoigne estates.

References

External links

Richard Oliver Gascoigne (copy of an earlier portrait)
British School, Lotherton Hall, Leeds Museums and Galleries. {{DEFAULTSORT:Oliver Gascoigne, Richard 1763 births 1843 deaths Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford High sheriffs of Yorkshire Irish MPs 1783–1790 Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Limerick constituencies