Richard Barry, 7th Earl of Barrymore

Richard Barry, 7th Earl of Barrymore, (14 August 1769 – 6 March 1793) was an English nobleman of Ireland, as well as an infamous rake, gambler, sportsman, theatrical enthusiast and womanizer. He was known as the Rake of Rakes .

Family

Barrymore was born on 14 August 1769 in Marylebone, Middlesex, to Richard Barry, 6th Earl of Barrymore and Amelia Stanhope, daughter of William Stanhope, 2nd Earl of Harrington and the Lady Caroline Fitzroy. He succeeded his father as Earl of Barrymore 1 August 1773 when he was only three. His mother placed him under the care of the vicar of Wargrave in Berkshire, where he grew up and later settled.

He married Charlotte Goulding, the daughter of a sedan chairman on 7 June 1792, but, even before this, he was heavily in debt.

Sport

Barrymore became a well-known sportsman, particularly in cricket, running, horse-racing, boxing and swordsmanship. He patronised his own personal bare-knuckle boxer, bred his own race-horses and rode as his own jockey. He was especially famous for placing huge bets on both these sports and other extraodinarily ludicrous challenges.

He made 2 known appearances in major cricket matches from 1791 to 1792, playing for Sussex as a member of the Brighton cricket club . He was listed in the scorecards as Lord Barrymore.

Theatre

His first love was, however, the theatre, a fine example of which he built and ran in Wargrave. He even acted there himself.

Politics

He was also Member of Parliament for Heytesbury from 1791 until his death .

Military career and early death

Barrymore retired to life in the Royal Berkshire Militia, into which he had been commissioned in 1789 and was later promoted Lieutenant, but was accidentally killed at Folkestone on 6 March 1793. His musket discharged while escorting French prisoners of war to Dover.

He was buried 17 May 1793 in St Mary's Church in Wargrave.

Aftermath

Despite fears of bankruptcy, Barrymore died in unexpected solvency. He had alienated much of his Cork patrimony in 1792, at which time the Buttevant estate passed to Viscount Doneraile and to a Scottish banker, John Anderson.

External links

• CricketArchive
• Royal Berkshire History: Richard Barry, Earl of Barrymore
• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages

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