Sir Richard Rawlinson Vyvyan, 8th Baronet (6 June 1800 – 15 August 1879) was an English landowner and Tory politician who sat in the

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

variously between 1825 and 1857.

Life

Vyvyan was born at Trelowarren,

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

, the son of Sir Vyell Vyvyan, 7th Baronet and his wife Mary Hutton Rawlinson, daughter of Thomas Hutton Rawlinson of Lancaster. He was educated at

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (school founder), John Lyon, a local landowner an ...

and at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

but did not take a degree. In 1820, he succeeded to the

baronetcy A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

and

Vyvyan family : ''For the Vivian family of Glynn and Truro, Cornwall, see Baron Vivian.'' The Vyvyans are a prominent Cornish family who were members of Parliament, baronets, and landowners in Penwith and Kerrier since the 15th century. The Vyvyan famil ...

estates on the death of his father. He became a lieutenant-colonel commandant in the Cornwall yeomanry cavalry on 5 September 1820. On his death his estate consisted of in twenty-five Cornish parishes with a rent roll of £18,147. He left no issue and his successor was Sir Vyell Donnithorne Vyvyan, 9th Baronet (1826–1917)

Political career

In 1825, Vyvyan was elected Member of Parliament for

. He held the seat until 1831. From 1831 he represented

Okehampton Okehampton ( ) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in West Devon in the English county of Devon. At the 2021 census, the parish had a population of 7,313, which was slightly more than the 7,104 recorded at the 2011 census. Th ...

, but upon the passage of the

Reform Act 1832 The Representation of the People Act 1832 (also known as the Reform Act 1832, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (indexed as 2 & 3 Will. 4. c. 45), enacted by the Whig government of Pri ...

, he moved to

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

, serving until 1837. He later served as Member for

Helston Helston () is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated at the northern end of the The Lizard, Lizard Peninsula approximately east of Penzance and south-west of Falmouth, Cornwall, Falmouth.Ordnance Survey: ...

from 1841 until 1857. Vyvyan was

High Sheriff of Cornwall Sheriffs and high sheriffs of Cornwall: a chronological list: The right to choose high sheriffs each year is vested in the Duchy of Cornwall. The Privy Council of the United Kingdom, Privy Council, chaired by the sovereign, chooses the sheriff ...

in 1840.

Scientific work

In 1826, Vyvyan was made a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

for his "considerable literary and scientific acquirements especially in the Philosophy of Natural History", previously having been a Fellow of the Geological Society. He was also the patron of Charles Thomas Pearce, who he initially employed as his secretary in about 1843, and with whom he undertook "researches on light, heat, and magnetism of the Moon's rays" over a period of years. Between 1846 and 1848, they shared a house built by

Decimus Burton Decimus Burton (30 September 1800 – 14 December 1881) was one of the foremost English architects and landscapers of the 19th century. He was the foremost Victorian architect in the Roman revival, Greek revival, Georgian neoclassical and Reg ...

in London's

Regent's Park Regent's Park (officially The Regent's Park) is one of the Royal Parks of London. It occupies in north-west Inner London, administratively split between the City of Westminster and the London Borough of Camden, Borough of Camden (and historical ...

, called ''St. Dunstan's Villa''.

Evolution

Vyvyan was an advocate of

Lamarckian Lamarckism, also known as Lamarckian inheritance or neo-Lamarckism, is the notion that an organism can pass on to its offspring physical characteristics that the parent organism acquired through use or disuse during its lifetime. It is also calle ...

evolution and

transmutation of species The Transmutation of species and transformism are 18th and early 19th-century ideas about the change of one species into another that preceded Charles Darwin's theory of evolution through natural selection. The French ''Transformisme'' was a ter ...

. He was erroneously suspected of writing ''

Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation ''Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation'' is an 1844 work of speculative natural history and philosophy by Robert Chambers. Published anonymously in England, it brought together various ideas of stellar evolution with the progressive tra ...

'' until he denied authorship. Historian of science Pietro Corsi has written that Vyvyan "endorsed a quasi-Lamarckian transformation of species, together with phrenology and a broadly evolutionary cosmology."Corsi, Pietro. (2005). ''Before Darwin: Transformist Concepts in European Natural History''. ''

Journal of the History of Biology The ''Journal of the History of Biology'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering the history of biology as well as philosophical and social issues confronting biology. It is published by Springer Science+Business Media and the edito ...

'' (2005) 38: 67–83.

Scientific writings

*''An Essay on Arithmo-physiology'', privately printed, 1825 *''Psychology, or a Review of the Arguments in proof of the Existence and Immortality of the Animal Soul,'' vol. i. 1831; called in immediately after publication *''The Harmony of the Comprehensible World'' (anon.), 1842, 2 vols *''The Harmony of the Comprehensible World'' (anon.), 1845 He also published several letters and speeches. His letter to the magistrates of

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 ...

on their practice of 'consigning prisoners to solitary confinement before trial, and ordering them to be disguised by masks,' passed into a second edition in 1845. His account of the

fogou A fogou or fougou (pronounced "foo-goo") is an underground, dry-stone structure found on Iron Age or Romano-British-defended settlement sites in Cornwall. The original purpose of a fogou is uncertain today. Colloquially called , , , giant holts ...

or cave at Halligey, Trelowarren, is in the ''Journal'' of the

Royal Institution of Cornwall The Royal Institution of Cornwall (RIC) is a Learned society in Truro, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It was founded in Truro on 5 February 1818 as the Cornwall Literary and Philosophical Institution. The Institution was one of the earliest ...

(1885, viii. 256–8).

References

External links

Family genealogy
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vyvyan, Richard Rawlinson 1800 births 1879 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Ultra-Tory MPs

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 ...

8 Politicians from Cornwall UK MPs 1826–1830 UK MPs 1830–1831 UK MPs 1831–1832 UK MPs 1832–1835 UK MPs 1835–1837 UK MPs 1841–1847 UK MPs 1847–1852 UK MPs 1852–1857 People educated at Harrow School Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Geological Society of London High sheriffs of Cornwall English landowners Burials in Cornwall Lizard Peninsula Proto-evolutionary biologists Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Okehampton Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Cornwall Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Bristol Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Helston 19th-century British businesspeople