Richard Topham (1671–1730) was an English landowner and politician, Member of Parliament for New Windsor from 1698 to 1713. He is known also as a collector.

Life

He was son of John Topham, acting as

serjeant-at-arms A serjeant-at-arms or sergeant-at-arms is an officer appointed by a deliberative body, usually a legislature, to keep order during its meetings. The word "serjeant" is derived from the Latin , which means "servant". Historically, serjeants-at-ar ...

of 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 ...

from 1678 until his death in 1692 (for Sir William Bishop) and his wife Joan Stoughton. 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 ...

, and matriculated at

Trinity College, Oxford Trinity College (full name: The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope (Knight)) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in E ...

in 1689. On his father's death, he was unable to nominate the successor. Turning away from a possible legal career, he managed land holdings in New Windsor. Topham was elected to the House of Commons for New Windsor in 1698, and was identified as a Country Party supporter. His parliamentary interests were mainly constituency concerns, and private bills. In 1707, he persuaded William Petyt, the Keeper of Records in the Tower of London, who was ill and died that year, to pass to him the post. He retired from politics in 1713. As Keeper of the Records, Topham attracted early criticism for his lack of relevant experience. He deflected it by giving deputy status to George Holmes; and by administrative innovation.

Collector

Topham was a bibliophile and collector in his own right. His library, dominated by Latin and Greek classics, amounted to some 1300 books. His so-called "paper museum", of drawings, watercolours and prints, reached 3000 items. Among those were 53 drawings by

Pompeo Batoni Pompeo Girolamo Batoni (25 January 1708 – 4 February 1787) was an Italian painter who displayed a solid technical knowledge in his portrait work and in his numerous Allegory, allegorical and mythological pictures. The high number of foreign vis ...

. The evidence is not convincing that Topham made a Grand Tour. He used agents to build up his collection, in particular

John Talman John Talman (July 1677, King's Street, Westminster – 3 November 1726, London) was a British antiquary and art collector. He was the eldest son of William Talman (architect), William Talman and his wife Hannah. From 1709 to 1717 he toured in ...

. He owned a large house in Peascod Street, Windsor. There he had a collection of classical statuary.

Family

Topham did not marry. His mother Joan, who died in 1721, lived with him in Peascod Street. Sidney Beauclerk lived with them, for a period, from around age 15 (c. 1718), when he went to Eton. Topham's sister Annabella married Thomas Reeve, who died in 1737. Via Reeve, Topham's heir was Beauclerk.

Legacy

The Topham Collection of prints and drawings went to Eton College. It is now understood that

Robert Adam Robert Adam (3 July 17283 March 1792) was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (architect), William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and train ...

's ideas on neo-classical interior decoration, evolved in the 1760s, were influenced directly by graphical work of

Francesco Bartoli Francesco Saverio Bartoli (1745–1806) was an Italian actor born in Bologna, playwright, and writer. He is most remembered today for his biographical dictionary, ''Notizie istoriche de' comici italiani''. It was the first serious attempt to doc ...

in this collection. Charles Cameron is also believed to have made use of the works, without acknowledgement.Frank Salmon, ''The Topham Collection: Eton'', The Burlington Magazine Vol. 155, No. 1328, Sculpture (November 2013), pp. 788–789. Published by: Burlington Magazine Publications Ltd.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Topham, Richard 1671 births 1730 deaths Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies Collectors from London English MPs 1698–1700 English MPs 1701 English MPs 1701–1702 English MPs 1702–1705 English MPs 1705–1707 British MPs 1707–1708 British MPs 1708–1710 British MPs 1710–1713 17th-century English politicians 18th-century English politicians