Osterley Park House, London-25June2009-rc

Sir Robert Child (bap. 6 June 1674 – 6 October 1721) was an English banker and politician. The heir to his father's banking business, the London-based Child & Co., he was Chairman of the

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

in 1715. He also served as a member of parliament (MP) for

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

from 1710 to 1713, and for

Devizes Devizes is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It developed around Devizes Castle, an 11th-century Norman castle, and received a charter in 1141. The castle was besieged during the Anarchy, a 12th-century civil war between St ...

from 1713 to 1715.

Personal background

Robert Child was eldest surviving son of Sir Francis Child, MP,

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional pow ...

in 1698 and Jeweller to King William III. His father took

Osterley Park Osterley Park and House is a Georgian country estate in west London, that straddles the London boroughs of Ealing and Hounslow. Originally dating from the 1570s, the estate contains a number of Grade I and II listed buildings, with the park ...

, after a default on its mortgage, which Child subsequently inherited. It then became Child's principal seat.

Member of Parliament

Child was Member of Parliament for

between 1710 and 1713. He then stood for his father's old constituency of

, where he was Member of Parliament between 1713 and 1715. He was knighted in 1714. He was an alderman in London from 1713 to his death. On his death (unmarried) the estate passed to his brother Francis. It is Child's nephews, also named

Francis Francis may refer to: People *Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome * Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Francis (surname) Places *Rural ...

and

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, h ...

, who are accredited with commissioning the building of Osterley House by Adam.

References

1624 births 1721 deaths Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1710–1713 British MPs 1713–1715 English bankers Robert 1 Directors of the British East India Company Knights Bachelor {{England-GreatBritain-MP-stub