Richard Lovell Edgeworth
| Richard Lovell Edgeworth | |
|---|---|
|
Richard Edgeworth, 1812 | |
| Born |
31 May 1744 Bath, England |
| Died |
13 June 1817 (aged 73) Edgeworthstown, County Longford, Ireland |
| Nationality | English |
| Alma mater | Oxford; Trinity College, Dublin |
| Partners |
|
| Children |
|
Richard Lovell Edgeworth (31 May 1744 – 13 June 1817) was an Anglo-Irish politician, writer and inventor.
Biography
Edgeworth was born in Pierrepont Street, Bath, England, great-grandson of Sir Salathiel Lovell through his granddaughter, Jane Lovell.
A Trinity College, Dublin and Oxford alumnus, he is credited for creating, among other inventions, a machine to measure the size of a plot of land. He also made strides in the developing educational methods. He anticipated the caterpillar track with an invention that he played around with for forty years but that he never successfully developed.[2] He described it as a "cart that carries its own road".
He was married four times, including both Honora Sneyd and Frances Beaufort, older sister of Francis Beaufort of the Royal Navy. The two men installed a telegraph line for Ireland. Richard Lovell Edgeworth was a member of the Lunar Society. The Lunar Society evolved through various degrees of organization over a period of years, but was only ever an informal group. No constitution, minutes, publications or membership lists survive from any period, and evidence of its existence and activities is found only in the correspondence and notes of those associated with it. Dates given for the society range from sometime before 1760 to it still operating as late as 1813. Fourteen individuals have been identified as having verifiably attended Lunar Society meetings regularly over a long period during its most productive time: these are Matthew Boulton, Erasmus Darwin, Thomas Day, Richard Lovell Edgeworth, Samuel Galton, Jr., James Keir, Joseph Priestley, William Small, Jonathan Stokes, James Watt, Josiah Wedgwood, John Whitehurst and William Withering.
Richard Edgeworth and his family lived in Ireland at his estate at Edgeworthstown, County Longford, where he reclaimed bogs and improved roads. He sat in Grattan's Parliament for St Johnstown (County Longford) from 1798 until the Act of Union in 1801, and advocated Catholic Emancipation and parliamentary reform. He was a founder-member of the Royal Irish Academy. He died in Edgworthstown on 13 June 1817.
Family
He was the father of 22 children by his four wives
- Anna Maria Elers (1743–1773)[3]
- Richard (1765–1796), died in America
- Maria (1768 – 1849) the novelist
- Emmeline, married to J. King of Clifton
- Anna Maria, married to Dr. Thomas Beddoes.
- Honora Sneyd (1751 – 1 May 1780)[3]
- Lovell (1775–1842), who inherited the property
- Honora (1774–1790)
- Elizabeth Sneyd (1753–1797), five sons and four daughters, of whom
- Charles Sneyd (d. 1864) succeeded his brother Lovell
- Honora married Francis Beaufort in 1838
- William Edgeworth was known as an engineer.[4]
- Frances Ann Beaufort,[3] daughter of Daniel Augustus Beaufort and Esther Gougeonfour children
- Michael Pakenham Edgeworth, who became a botanist.
- Francis Ysidro Edgeworth became an influential economist.[5]
- Francis Beaufort Edgeworth was mentioned in Thomas Carlyle's Life of Sterling. He married a Spanish lady, Rosa Florentina Eroles, and their son Antonio Eroles Edgeworth succeeded his uncle Charles Sneyd at Edgeworthstown.
- Lucy Jane married the Irish astronomer Thomas Romney Robinson.
References
- ↑ Rees, Abraham, ed. (1802–1820). "Telegraph". Cyclopædia 35. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown. Unpaginated work: pages 9-11 of the article entry.
- ↑ http://www.strangehistory.net/2011/07/21/forgotten-anglo-irish-inventor-anticipates-the-modern-age/
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Lundy 2015, Richard Lovell Edgeworth.
- ↑ A. W. Skempton (2002). A Biographical Dictionary of Civil Engineers in Great Britain and Ireland: 1500-1830. Thomas Telford. p. 207. ISBN 978-0-7277-2939-2. Retrieved 3 May 2012.
- ↑
"Edgeworth, Richard Lovell". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
Bibliography
- Clarke, Desmond (1965). The ingenious Mr. Edgeworth. Oldbourne. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
- Curtis, Stanley James; Boultwood, Myrtle E. A. (1977). A short history of educational ideas (5th ed.). University Tutorial Press. ISBN 9780723107675.
- Edgeworth, Maria (1820). "RL Edgeworth Esq". The Annual Register. Part II: 1215–1223. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
- Priestman, Judith; Clapinson, Mary; Rogers, Tim (1993). "Catalogue of the papers of Maria Edgeworth (1768-1849), and the Edgeworth family, 17th-19th century". University of Oxford, Bodleian Library. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
- Lundy, Darryl (2015). "Home". The Peerage: A genealogical survey of the peerage of Britain as well as the royal families of Europe.
- Colvin, Christina Edgeworth. "Edgeworth, Richard Lovell (1744–1817)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/8478. Retrieved 18 March 2015. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- "The Four Wives of Richard Lovell Edgewort & The Children of Richard Lovell Edgeworth" (IMAGES). English-Irish Edgeworths. House of Edgeworth, South Carolina. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
- MacDonald, Edgar E. (1977). The Education of the Heart: The Correspondence of Rachel Mordecai Lazarus and Maria Edgeworth. UNC Press. ISBN 9781469606095. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Edgeworth, Richard Lovell". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
- O'Connor, Maura (2010). The Development of Infant Education in Ireland, 1838-1948: Epochs and Eras. Bern: Lang. ISBN 9783034301428. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
- "Edgeworth Papers. Collection List 40" (PDF). National Library of Ireland. p. 112. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
- "Edgeworth Collection (Longford County Library)". Ask About Ireland. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
External links
- Works by Richard Lovell Edgeworth at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Richard Lovell Edgeworth at Internet Archive
- Edgeworth, Richard Lovell; Maria Edgeworth (1820). The Memoirs of Richard Lovell Edgeworth 1. London: Hunter, Cradock & Joy.
- Edgeworth, Richard Lovell; Maria Edgeworth (1821). The Memoirs of Richard Lovell Edgeworth 2. London: Hunter, Cradock & Joy.
- The four wives of Richard Edgeworth Portraits
- The Edgeworth Family, National Portrait Gallery
| Parliament of Ireland | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Sir William Gleadowe-Newcomen, 1st Bt Francis Hardy |
Member of Parliament for St Johnstown (County Longford) 1798 – 1801 Served alongside: William Moore |
Succeeded by Parliament of the United Kingdom |
|