Richard Sharp was a British hat-maker, banker, merchant, poet, critic, Member of Parliament, and conversationalist.
Richard “Conversation Sharp” was born in the British garrison at St John's, Newfoundland, Canada, the elder son of Richard Sharp (1737–1765), a British army officer, and his wife Elizabeth Adams (1739–1799), a citizen of St John's.
Richard never married but in about 1812 he and his brother William and William’s wife Anna, adopted an infant, Maria Kinnaird, who had been orphaned by a catastrophic volcano eruption in the West Indies, where the brothers were working as merchants.
Richard’s early education was with a private tutor at Thaxted, Essex, the Rev. John Fell, minister of a Dissenting congregation. Richard’s grandfather, also a Richard Sharp owned a successful hatting business on Fysh Street Hill in London called Baker and Sharp. The partner George Sharp had retired in 1747, and Richard’s grandfather carried on the successful business. No doubt planning for his successor, Richard’s grandfather took into partnership another hatter, Thomas Cable Davis, who had married Richard’s widowed mother in 1769. When the Richard Sharp made his will, he recorded that Thomas Cable Davis had agreed to take one of the grandsons as an apprentice when he was old enough, and eventually make him a partner in the hatting business for a three-sevenths share. It was Richard who became the apprentice to his step-father. Together they ran the business, until in 1798, Richard decided to leave the haberdashery and took up a partnership with Samuel Boddington (also a Dissenter) in a West India merchant's firm, Boddington, Sharp, & Phillips located also in Fysh Street Hill, London. (Richard’s step father Thomas Davis died two years later in 1800).
The merchant business was extremely successful and lucrative for Richard. He was well liked and respected. His exceptional cleverness and powers of conversation gained him acceptance in the highest social circles and led to him acquiring his kindly meant nickname of Conversation Sharp.
In 1787 the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade was formed and Richard Sharp became an elected member.
In the winter of 1791-2 Richard co-operated with the leading members of the whig party in forming a society for obtaining a reform of parliament, which was known as ‘Friends of the People.’ From 1806 to 1812 he sat in parliament as a consistent whig for the pocket borough of Castle Rising in Norfolk. At a by-election in March 1816 he was returned for the Irish constituency of Portarlington, and he was re-elected at the general election in 1818, but resigned early in 1819. He was returned for Ilchester at the general election of 1826, but by an order of the House of Commons on 22 February 1827 his name was erased from the list and the seat given to another.
In 1828 Sharp’s only book, “Letters & Essays in Prose and Verse” was published and the Quarterly Review at the time, declared it to be remarkable for “wisdom, wit, knowledge of the world and sound criticism.”
Richard was a founding member of the intellectual "King of Clubs" conversation club and a member of many other London clubs and societies, including the Athenaeum, the Unincreasable, the Eumelean, and the Clifford Street Club. An early member of the Literary Society, in 1787 he became a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and in 1806 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. From 1810 to 1812 he was Prime Warden of the Fishmongers' Company. He was a member of the London Institute for the improvement of Science and Literature, taking on an initial role in the Temporary Management Committee and he remained a Manager for most of his life. In 1810 he served as their chairman, resigning from this position on 10 September 1812, and for the years 1827 and 1831 he was Vice-President.
When he was in London, Richard lived at his home in Park Lane, and when in the country, his ‘cottage-home’ was at Fredley Farm in Mickleham, near Dorking. At these residences, with his wit and charm, he entertained politicians, artists, scientists and some of the cleverest minds of the day. Guests were recorded and included such names as Henry Hallam, Thomas Colley Grattan, Sydney Smith John Stuart Mill, James Mill, Basil Hall, Dugald Stewart, Horne Tooke, Lord Jeffrey, Archbishop Whately, Walter Scott, Tom Moore, George Crabbe, Michael Faraday, Charles Babbage, Richard Porson, Maria Edgeworth, Francis Chantrey, and Sir Thomas Lawrence.
Richard had suffered all his life with a cough and a bad chest and Torquay was noted for both its health-giving air and Italianate landscape. As his health declined, he would spend the winters in his home, Higher Terrace in Torquay. The winter of 1834 was particularly severe and realizing that he might not last the season, Richard resolved that he would die in his beloved London. He set off for the city with his family and servants, but only got as far as Dorchester before dying at the coaching inn there.
His ward and adopted child, Maria Kinnaird, who had married Thomas Drummond (1797-1840), inherited the bulk of Richard’s estate, including the property at Fredley and a house at Hyde Park Gardens in London.
Richard “Conversation Sharp” was born in the British garrison at St John's, Newfoundland, Canada, the elder son of Richard Sharp (1737–1765), a British army officer, and his wife Elizabeth Adams (1739–1799), a citizen of St John's.
Richard never married but in about 1812 he and his brother William and William’s wife Anna, adopted an infant, Maria Kinnaird, who had been orphaned by a catastrophic volcano eruption in the West Indies, where the brothers were working as merchants.
Richard’s early education was with a private tutor at Thaxted, Essex, the Rev. John Fell, minister of a Dissenting congregation. Richard’s grandfather, also a Richard Sharp owned a successful hatting business on Fysh Street Hill in London called Baker and Sharp. The partner George Sharp had retired in 1747, and Richard’s grandfather carried on the successful business. No doubt planning for his successor, Richard’s grandfather took into partnership another hatter, Thomas Cable Davis, who had married Richard’s widowed mother in 1769. When the Richard Sharp made his will, he recorded that Thomas Cable Davis had agreed to take one of the grandsons as an apprentice when he was old enough, and eventually make him a partner in the hatting business for a three-sevenths share. It was Richard who became the apprentice to his step-father. Together they ran the business, until in 1798, Richard decided to leave the haberdashery and took up a partnership with Samuel Boddington (also a Dissenter) in a West India merchant's firm, Boddington, Sharp, & Phillips located also in Fysh Street Hill, London. (Richard’s step father Thomas Davis died two years later in 1800).
The merchant business was extremely successful and lucrative for Richard. He was well liked and respected. His exceptional cleverness and powers of conversation gained him acceptance in the highest social circles and led to him acquiring his kindly meant nickname of Conversation Sharp.
In 1787 the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade was formed and Richard Sharp became an elected member.
In the winter of 1791-2 Richard co-operated with the leading members of the whig party in forming a society for obtaining a reform of parliament, which was known as ‘Friends of the People.’ From 1806 to 1812 he sat in parliament as a consistent whig for the pocket borough of Castle Rising in Norfolk. At a by-election in March 1816 he was returned for the Irish constituency of Portarlington, and he was re-elected at the general election in 1818, but resigned early in 1819. He was returned for Ilchester at the general election of 1826, but by an order of the House of Commons on 22 February 1827 his name was erased from the list and the seat given to another.
In 1828 Sharp’s only book, “Letters & Essays in Prose and Verse” was published and the Quarterly Review at the time, declared it to be remarkable for “wisdom, wit, knowledge of the world and sound criticism.”
Richard was a founding member of the intellectual "King of Clubs" conversation club and a member of many other London clubs and societies, including the Athenaeum, the Unincreasable, the Eumelean, and the Clifford Street Club. An early member of the Literary Society, in 1787 he became a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and in 1806 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. From 1810 to 1812 he was Prime Warden of the Fishmongers' Company. He was a member of the London Institute for the improvement of Science and Literature, taking on an initial role in the Temporary Management Committee and he remained a Manager for most of his life. In 1810 he served as their chairman, resigning from this position on 10 September 1812, and for the years 1827 and 1831 he was Vice-President.
When he was in London, Richard lived at his home in Park Lane, and when in the country, his ‘cottage-home’ was at Fredley Farm in Mickleham, near Dorking. At these residences, with his wit and charm, he entertained politicians, artists, scientists and some of the cleverest minds of the day. Guests were recorded and included such names as Henry Hallam, Thomas Colley Grattan, Sydney Smith John Stuart Mill, James Mill, Basil Hall, Dugald Stewart, Horne Tooke, Lord Jeffrey, Archbishop Whately, Walter Scott, Tom Moore, George Crabbe, Michael Faraday, Charles Babbage, Richard Porson, Maria Edgeworth, Francis Chantrey, and Sir Thomas Lawrence.
Richard had suffered all his life with a cough and a bad chest and Torquay was noted for both its health-giving air and Italianate landscape. As his health declined, he would spend the winters in his home, Higher Terrace in Torquay. The winter of 1834 was particularly severe and realizing that he might not last the season, Richard resolved that he would die in his beloved London. He set off for the city with his family and servants, but only got as far as Dorchester before dying at the coaching inn there.
His ward and adopted child, Maria Kinnaird, who had married Thomas Drummond (1797-1840), inherited the bulk of Richard’s estate, including the property at Fredley and a house at Hyde Park Gardens in London.
Richard Sharp was a British hat-maker, banker, merchant, poet, critic, Member of Parliament, and conversationalist.
Richard “Conversation Sharp” was born in the British garrison at St John's, Newfoundland, Canada, the elder son of Richard Sharp (1737–1765), a British army officer, and his wife Elizabeth Adams (1739–1799), a citizen of St John's.
Richard never married but in about 1812 he and his brother William and William’s wife Anna, adopted an infant, Maria Kinnaird, who had been orphaned by a catastrophic volcano eruption in the West Indies, where the brothers were working as merchants.
Richard’s early education was with a private tutor at Thaxted, Essex, the Rev. John Fell, minister of a Dissenting congregation. Richard’s grandfather, also a Richard Sharp owned a successful hatting business on Fysh Street Hill in London called Baker and Sharp. The partner George Sharp had retired in 1747, and Richard’s grandfather carried on the successful business. No doubt planning for his successor, Richard’s grandfather took into partnership another hatter, Thomas Cable Davis, who had married Richard’s widowed mother in 1769. When the Richard Sharp made his will, he recorded that Thomas Cable Davis had agreed to take one of the grandsons as an apprentice when he was old enough, and eventually make him a partner in the hatting business for a three-sevenths share. It was Richard who became the apprentice to his step-father. Together they ran the business, until in 1798, Richard decided to leave the haberdashery and took up a partnership with Samuel Boddington (also a Dissenter) in a West India merchant's firm, Boddington, Sharp, & Phillips located also in Fysh Street Hill, London. (Richard’s step father Thomas Davis died two years later in 1800).
The merchant business was extremely successful and lucrative for Richard. He was well liked and respected. His exceptional cleverness and powers of conversation gained him acceptance in the highest social circles and led to him acquiring his kindly meant nickname of Conversation Sharp.
In 1787 the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade was formed and Richard Sharp became an elected member.
In the winter of 1791-2 Richard co-operated with the leading members of the whig party in forming a society for obtaining a reform of parliament, which was known as ‘Friends of the People.’ From 1806 to 1812 he sat in parliament as a consistent whig for the pocket borough of Castle Rising in Norfolk. At a by-election in March 1816 he was returned for the Irish constituency of Portarlington, and he was re-elected at the general election in 1818, but resigned early in 1819. He was returned for Ilchester at the general election of 1826, but by an order of the House of Commons on 22 February 1827 his name was erased from the list and the seat given to another.
In 1828 Sharp’s only book, “Letters & Essays in Prose and Verse” was published and the Quarterly Review at the time, declared it to be remarkable for “wisdom, wit, knowledge of the world and sound criticism.”
Richard was a founding member of the intellectual "King of Clubs" conversation club and a member of many other London clubs and societies, including the Athenaeum, the Unincreasable, the Eumelean, and the Clifford Street Club. An early member of the Literary Society, in 1787 he became a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and in 1806 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. From 1810 to 1812 he was Prime Warden of the Fishmongers' Company. He was a member of the London Institute for the improvement of Science and Literature, taking on an initial role in the Temporary Management Committee and he remained a Manager for most of his life. In 1810 he served as their chairman, resigning from this position on 10 September 1812, and for the years 1827 and 1831 he was Vice-President.
When he was in London, Richard lived at his home in Park Lane, and when in the country, his ‘cottage-home’ was at Fredley Farm in Mickleham, near Dorking. At these residences, with his wit and charm, he entertained politicians, artists, scientists and some of the cleverest minds of the day. Guests were recorded and included such names as Henry Hallam, Thomas Colley Grattan, Sydney Smith John Stuart Mill, James Mill, Basil Hall, Dugald Stewart, Horne Tooke, Lord Jeffrey, Archbishop Whately, Walter Scott, Tom Moore, George Crabbe, Michael Faraday, Charles Babbage, Richard Porson, Maria Edgeworth, Francis Chantrey, and Sir Thomas Lawrence.
Richard had suffered all his life with a cough and a bad chest and Torquay was noted for both its health-giving air and Italianate landscape. As his health declined, he would spend the winters in his home, Higher Terrace in Torquay. The winter of 1834 was particularly severe and realizing that he might not last the season, Richard resolved that he would die in his beloved London. He set off for the city with his family and servants, but only got as far as Dorchester before dying at the coaching inn there.
His ward and adopted child, Maria Kinnaird, who had married Thomas Drummond (1797-1840), inherited the bulk of Richard’s estate, including the property at Fredley and a house at Hyde Park Gardens in London.
Richard “Conversation Sharp” was born in the British garrison at St John's, Newfoundland, Canada, the elder son of Richard Sharp (1737–1765), a British army officer, and his wife Elizabeth Adams (1739–1799), a citizen of St John's.
Richard never married but in about 1812 he and his brother William and William’s wife Anna, adopted an infant, Maria Kinnaird, who had been orphaned by a catastrophic volcano eruption in the West Indies, where the brothers were working as merchants.
Richard’s early education was with a private tutor at Thaxted, Essex, the Rev. John Fell, minister of a Dissenting congregation. Richard’s grandfather, also a Richard Sharp owned a successful hatting business on Fysh Street Hill in London called Baker and Sharp. The partner George Sharp had retired in 1747, and Richard’s grandfather carried on the successful business. No doubt planning for his successor, Richard’s grandfather took into partnership another hatter, Thomas Cable Davis, who had married Richard’s widowed mother in 1769. When the Richard Sharp made his will, he recorded that Thomas Cable Davis had agreed to take one of the grandsons as an apprentice when he was old enough, and eventually make him a partner in the hatting business for a three-sevenths share. It was Richard who became the apprentice to his step-father. Together they ran the business, until in 1798, Richard decided to leave the haberdashery and took up a partnership with Samuel Boddington (also a Dissenter) in a West India merchant's firm, Boddington, Sharp, & Phillips located also in Fysh Street Hill, London. (Richard’s step father Thomas Davis died two years later in 1800).
The merchant business was extremely successful and lucrative for Richard. He was well liked and respected. His exceptional cleverness and powers of conversation gained him acceptance in the highest social circles and led to him acquiring his kindly meant nickname of Conversation Sharp.
In 1787 the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade was formed and Richard Sharp became an elected member.
In the winter of 1791-2 Richard co-operated with the leading members of the whig party in forming a society for obtaining a reform of parliament, which was known as ‘Friends of the People.’ From 1806 to 1812 he sat in parliament as a consistent whig for the pocket borough of Castle Rising in Norfolk. At a by-election in March 1816 he was returned for the Irish constituency of Portarlington, and he was re-elected at the general election in 1818, but resigned early in 1819. He was returned for Ilchester at the general election of 1826, but by an order of the House of Commons on 22 February 1827 his name was erased from the list and the seat given to another.
In 1828 Sharp’s only book, “Letters & Essays in Prose and Verse” was published and the Quarterly Review at the time, declared it to be remarkable for “wisdom, wit, knowledge of the world and sound criticism.”
Richard was a founding member of the intellectual "King of Clubs" conversation club and a member of many other London clubs and societies, including the Athenaeum, the Unincreasable, the Eumelean, and the Clifford Street Club. An early member of the Literary Society, in 1787 he became a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and in 1806 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. From 1810 to 1812 he was Prime Warden of the Fishmongers' Company. He was a member of the London Institute for the improvement of Science and Literature, taking on an initial role in the Temporary Management Committee and he remained a Manager for most of his life. In 1810 he served as their chairman, resigning from this position on 10 September 1812, and for the years 1827 and 1831 he was Vice-President.
When he was in London, Richard lived at his home in Park Lane, and when in the country, his ‘cottage-home’ was at Fredley Farm in Mickleham, near Dorking. At these residences, with his wit and charm, he entertained politicians, artists, scientists and some of the cleverest minds of the day. Guests were recorded and included such names as Henry Hallam, Thomas Colley Grattan, Sydney Smith John Stuart Mill, James Mill, Basil Hall, Dugald Stewart, Horne Tooke, Lord Jeffrey, Archbishop Whately, Walter Scott, Tom Moore, George Crabbe, Michael Faraday, Charles Babbage, Richard Porson, Maria Edgeworth, Francis Chantrey, and Sir Thomas Lawrence.
Richard had suffered all his life with a cough and a bad chest and Torquay was noted for both its health-giving air and Italianate landscape. As his health declined, he would spend the winters in his home, Higher Terrace in Torquay. The winter of 1834 was particularly severe and realizing that he might not last the season, Richard resolved that he would die in his beloved London. He set off for the city with his family and servants, but only got as far as Dorchester before dying at the coaching inn there.
His ward and adopted child, Maria Kinnaird, who had married Thomas Drummond (1797-1840), inherited the bulk of Richard’s estate, including the property at Fredley and a house at Hyde Park Gardens in London.
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