Sir Richard George Augustus Levinge, 7th Baronet (1 November 1811 – 28 September 1884)[1] was an Irish landowner and politician from Knockdrin Castle, County Westmeath. He sat in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1857 to 1865.

Life

His mother was a sister of the 2nd Baron Rancliffe, who died without issue in November 1850. Sir Richard inherited his uncle's entailed property, valued at between £1,000 and £2,000 per annum.[2] In 1846 he was commissioned as Lieutenant Colonel of the Westmeath Militia.[3] He was Sheriff of Westmeath in 1851–2,[4][5] and in 1853 was appointed as a Deputy Lieutenant of the county.[6]

At the 1852 general election, he contested the Westmeath constituency as a Conservative, without success.

Five years later, at the 1857 election,[7] he was returned unopposed for Westmeath as an Independent Opposition candidate.[8] That party collapsed in 1859, he was re-elected at the 1859 general election, [9] as a Liberal.[8]

He did not contest the 1865 election.[8] He was asked to stand again at the 1868 general election, but refused. He said that although he was a Liberal on all other points, he was a staunch Protestant, and opposed the Liberal policy of disestablishing the Church of Ireland.[10]

He died in Brussels on Sunday 28 September 1884, aged 73. He was succeeded in the baronetcy by his brother Vere Henry Levinge, an officer in the Madras Civil Service.[11]

Family

Richard was brother to Commodore Reginald Thomas John Levinge of the Royal Navy.[12]

Works

  • Echoes from the Backwoods; or, Sketches of Transatlantic Life (London, 1846, 2 vols.)
  • Cromwell Doolan; or, Life in the Army (London, 1849, 2 vols.) (Internet Archive)
  • A Day With the Brookside Harriers at Brighton (London, 1858) (Internet Archive)
  • Historical Records of the Forty-third Regiment, Monmouthshire Light Infantry, with a roll of the Officers and their services (Internet Archive)

References

  1. ↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 3)
  2. ↑ "Death of Lord Rancliffe". Dublin Evening Mail. British Newspaper Archive. November 1850. p. 3.
  3. ↑ "No. 6455". The Edinburgh Gazette. 5 January 1855. p. 29.
  4. ↑ "No. 6046". The Edinburgh Gazette. 11 February 1851. p. 101.
  5. ↑ "High Sheriffs for 1851–'52". Freeman's Journal. British Newspaper Archive. 3 January 1851. p. 2.
  6. ↑ "No. 6287". The Edinburgh Gazette. 3 June 1853. p. 437.
  7. ↑ "No. 21995". The London Gazette. 1 May 1857. p. 1534.
  8. 1 2 3 Walker, Brian M., ed. (1978). Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland 1801–1922. A New History of Ireland. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. p. 320. ISBN 0901714127. ISSN 0332-0286.
  9. ↑ "No. 22264". The London Gazette. 17 May 1859. p. 1988.
  10. ↑ "Election News". Dublin Evening Mail. British Newspaper Archive. 18 August 1868. p. 2.
  11. ↑ "Sir Richard George Augustus Levinge, Bart". Aberdeen Evening Express. British Newspaper Archive. 30 September 1884. p. 2.
  12. ↑ "Levinge, Reginald Thomas John".
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