LEGH, Richard (1634-87), of Lyme, Prestbury, Cheshire.

Family and Education

b. 7 May 1634, 2nd but 1st surv. s. of Thomas Legh DD (d. 27 May 1639), rector of Sefton and Walton on the Hill, Lancs. and Lettice (d. 14 Oct. 1648), da. and coh. of Sir George Calveley of Lea, Cheshire.Earwaker, E. Cheshire, ii. 305; Newton, House of Lyme, 177, 189. educ. Winwick g.s.; St John’s, Camb. 18 June 1649;Al. Cant. G. Inn 23 May 1653.G. Inn Admiss. 264. m. 1 Jan. 1661 (with £3,000), Elizabeth (bur. 4 June 1728), da. of Sir Thomas Chicheley of Wimpole, Cambs., 6s. 7da. (2 d.v.p.). suc. uncle 2 Feb. 1643. d. 31 Aug. 1687.JRL, Legh of Lyme muns. box R, D no. 7; Earwaker, E. Cheshire, ii. 305; E.C. Legh, Lyme Letters 1660-1760 (1925), ped. of Richard Legh; Newton, House of Lyme, 181, 216, 346, 347.

Offices Held

Local: j.p. Cheshire 6 Apr. 1657 – 1 Oct. 1659, Mar. 1660–d.;C231/6, pp. 364, 442. Lancs. c.May 1660–?d.Lancs. RO, QSC/62–86. Commr. assessment, Cheshire 9 June 1657, 1 June 1660, 1661, 1664, 1672, 1677, 1679; Lancs. 1 June 1660, 1661, 1664, 1672, 1677, 1679;A. and O.; An Ordinance...for an Assessment (1660, E.1075.6); SR. militia, Cheshire 12 Mar. 1660;A. and O. poll tax, Cheshire, Lancs. 1660.SR. Dep. lt. Cheshire Oct. 1661–12 Nov. 1688;Cheshire RO, DLT/B11, pp. 108, 127; ZCR 72/29/30; Lancs. RO, DDTA 167, 170, 173; CSP Dom. 1685, p. 165. Lancs. 1673 – 80, 10 June 1685–6.Lancs. RO, DDBR 8/4–5; CSP Dom. 1685, p. 165; D.P. Carter, ‘The Lancs. militia 1660–88’, in Seventeenth-Century Lancs. ed. J.I. Kermode, C.B. Phillips, Trans. Historic Soc. Lancs. and Cheshire, cxxxii. 181. Commr. corporations, Cheshire 14 Feb. 1662;Cheshire RO, ZAB/2, f. 137v. subsidy, Cheshire, Lancs. 1663.SR. Gov. King’s sch. Macclesfield 12 Feb. 1667.Cheshire RO, SP 3/4/21. Dep.-constable, Liverpool Castle 20 May 1673–?Lancs. RO, DDM 3/25. Commr. recusants, Lancs. 1675.CTB iv. 739.

Civic: freeman, Liverpool 24 Nov. 1662–d.;City of Liverpool. Selections from the Municipal Archives ed. J.A. Picton (Liverpool, 1883), 24. Preston 12 Sept. 1672–d.Preston Guild Rolls ed. W.A. Abram (Lancs. and Cheshire Rec. Soc. ix), 148.

: of Lyme, Cheshire., Prestbury.

Likenesses

Likenesses: oil on canvas, ‘Master J.H.’ (prob. J. Hesketh), 1662;NT, Lyme. oil on canvas, P. Lely, 1667.NT, Lyme.

Volume

Commons 1640-1660

Web Title

LEGH, Richard (1634-87), of Lyme, Prestbury, Cheshire.

Will

1 Sept. 1684, pr. 8 Nov. 1687.Cheshire RO, WS 1687, will of Richard Legh.

Estates

in 1625, grandfa. was assessed for his lands in Cheshire at £26 13s. 4d for the privy seal loan.Cheshire RO, DLT/B/11, p. 11. In 1643, Legh inherited a substantial estate in Cheshire and Lancs.Infra, ‘Peter Legh’; PROB11/226, f. 381; Newton, House of Lyme, 179. In 1656-60, purchased property in Newton; c.Oct. 1660, purchased from Sir Thomas Fleetwood the manor or barony of Newton in Makerfield, Newton Hall and property in Abram, Ashton in Makerfield, Billinge, Croft, Golborne, Lowton, Pemberton and Southworth, Lancs.JRL, Legh of Lyme muns. box A, A nos. 6, 11, 13; Legh of Lyme corresp. Lttrs. to R. Legh, folder 12: W. Bancks to Legh, 17 April, 15 May n.d. [but 1660]; folder 18: Sir T. Fleetwood to Legh, 20 Apr. [?1660]; Lancs. RO, QDD/55/F2; VCH Lancs. iv. 133-4. In 1660, estate was valued at £4,000 p.a.The Flemings in Oxford ed. J.R. Magrath (Oxf. Hist. Soc. xliv), 510. In 1662-3, his acct. book suggests that estate was worth £2,678 p.a.JRL, Legh of Lyme mss, Filing box 52. His will referred to property in Disley, Lyme Handley and Stanley, Cheshire.Cheshire RO, WS 1687, will of Richard Legh.

Oxford 1644

Addresses

Dutton, Cheshire (1653);JRL, Legh of Lyme corresp. Lttrs. to Richard Legh, folder 12: F. Bancks to Legh n.d. [June 1653]. Holborn Court, Chisnalls Buildings, Gray’s Inn, Mdx. (1657-1658);Greater Manchester County RO, E17/89/22/1; Newton, House of Lyme, 198. ‘over against The Harp and Ball, below Charing Cross, near Wallingford House (Mar. 1659).Newton, House of Lyme, 198.

Religion

presented Samuel Needham to rectory of Claughton, Lancs., 1681.

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