Richard Wyche (pronounced Whyche) (1554–1621) was a London shipowner, explorer, and merchant.

Origins

Richard Wyche was born in 1554 in

Davenham Davenham (; ) is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cheshire, England. It is part of the Cheshire West and Chester, Borough of Cheshire West and Chester. It had a population of 2,745 at the 2011 United Kingdom census, 201 ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

. He was the son of Richard Wyche (1525–1594) and Margaret Haughton. He was descended from a former Lord Mayor of London in the fifteenth century, Henry Wyche.

Career as an adventurer

He was on the first Committee of Directors of the

English East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South Asia and Southeast A ...

, assisted in the formation of the

North West Company The North West Company was a Fur trade in Canada, Canadian fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in the regions that later became Western Canada a ...

in 1612, and was among the adventurers of the

Muscovy Company The Muscovy Company (also called the Russia Company or the Muscovy Trading Company; ) was an English trading company chartered in 1555. It was the first major Chartered company, chartered joint-stock company, the precursor of the type of business ...

. ''Wiche Islands'' or ''Wiche's Land'' (discovered and named in 1617, and now erroneously called

Kong Karls Land Kong Karls Land or King Charles Land is an island group in the Svalbard archipelago, in the Arctic Ocean. The island group covers an area of and is made up of the islands of Kongsøya, Svenskøya, Abel Island, Helgoland Island, and Tirpitzø ...

), Wichebukta (on the east coast of

Spitsbergen Spitsbergen (; formerly known as West Spitsbergen; Norwegian language, Norwegian: ''Vest Spitsbergen'' or ''Vestspitsbergen'' , also sometimes spelled Spitzbergen) is the largest and the only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipel ...

), Wichefjellet (also on the Spitsbergen's east coast), and ''Wiche Sound'' (named and discovered in 1614 and now called Liefdefjorden and

Woodfjorden Woodfjord is a fjord on the north shore of Spitsbergen island in the Svalbard archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an oc ...

) were all named after him.

Marriage and family

Richard Wyche,

Gentleman ''Gentleman'' (Old French: ''gentilz hom'', gentle + man; abbreviated ''gent.'') is a term for a chivalrous, courteous, or honorable man. Originally, ''gentleman'' was the lowest rank of the landed gentry of England, ranking below an esquire ...

and

Mercer Mercer may refer to: Business * Mercer (automobile), a defunct American automobile manufacturer (1909–1925) * Mercer (consulting firm), a human resources consulting firm headquartered in New York City, US * Mercer (occupation), a merchant or tra ...

, married Elizabeth Saltonstall on 18 February 1583/4 at

St Dunstan in the East St Dunstan-in-the-East was a Church of England parish church on St Dunstan's Hill, halfway between London Bridge and the Tower of London in the City of London. The church was largely destroyed in the Second World War and the ruins are now a publi ...

, London She was the daughter of Sir

Richard Saltonstall Sir Richard Saltonstall (baptised, 4 April 1586 – October 1661) led a group of English settlers up the Charles River to settle in what is now Watertown, Massachusetts in 1630. He was a nephew of the Lord Mayor of London Richard Saltonst ...

, Member of Parliament and

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the Mayors in England, mayor of the City of London, England, and the Leader of the council, leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded Order of precedence, precedence over a ...

. Elizabeth's first cousin was another Sir

, who in 1630 established a settlement in the

Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1628–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around Massachusetts Bay, one of the several colonies later reorganized as the Province of M ...

. This couple had many children.

Nathaniel Wyche Nathaniel Wyche (1607 – 23 May 1659) was an English merchant and president of the English East India Company. Early life Nathaniel was born in 1607 and baptized at Mitcham on 5 August 1607. He was the youngest son of Elizabeth ( Saltonstall fam ...

lived in India and was President of the East India Company in the late 1650s. Another son was Sir Peter Wyche, Ambassador to Constantinople (Ottoman Empire), who married Jane Meredith. Their children included (the second) Sir Peter Wyche, Sir

Cyril Wyche Sir Cyril Wyche FRS ( – 28 December 1707) was an English lawyer, politician and administrator. He served two terms in the Dublin Castle administration as Chief Secretary for Ireland and was a Lord Justice of Ireland from 1693 to 1695. He wa ...

, and Lady Jane Wyche, who married

John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath PC (29 August 1628 – 22 August 1701) was an English landowner who served in the Royalist army during the First English Civil War and was rewarded for his services after the 1660 Stuart Restoration with a title ...

. Sir Peter Wyche was one of the Chancellors of

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

, and his sons Sir Cyril and Sir Peter were among the founding members of the British

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

. His daughter Jane Wyche Granville was

Countess Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

of Bath and

Lady of the Bedchamber Lady of the Bedchamber is the title of a lady-in-waiting holding the official position of personal attendant on a British queen regnant or queen consort. The position is traditionally held by the wife of a peer. A lady of the bedchamber would gi ...

Henrietta Maria of France Henrietta Maria of France ( French: ''Henriette Marie''; 25 November 1609 – 10 September 1669) was Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland from her marriage to King Charles I on 13 June 1625 until his execution on 30 January 1649. She was ...

Queen Consort A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king, and usually shares her spouse's social Imperial, royal and noble ranks, rank and status. She holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles and may be crowned and anointed, but hi ...

of King

Charles I of England Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, and Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland from 27 March 1625 until Execution of Charles I, his execution in 1649. Charles was born ...

. Richard died on 20 November 1621 and was buried on 26 November at

St Dunstan-in-the-East St Dunstan-in-the-East was a Church of England parish church on St Dunstan's Hill, halfway between London Bridge and the Tower of London in the City of London. The church was largely destroyed in the Second World War and the ruins are now a publi ...

, London.London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; Church of England Parish Registers, 1538-1812; Reference Number: P69/DUN1/A/001/MS07857/001.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wyche, Richard 1554 births 1621 deaths British East India Company people 17th-century English merchants Muscovy Company people