Sir Edwin Rich was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons

House of Commons of England

The House of Commons of England was the lower house of the Parliament of England from its development in the 14th century to the union of England and Scotland in 1707, when it was replaced by the House of Commons of Great Britain...

  in 1640.

Rich was born at Thetford

Thetford

Thetford is a market town and civil parish in the Breckland district of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road between Norwich and London, just south of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, covering an area of , has a population of 21,588.-History:...

, Norfolk, the son of Sir Edwin Rich of Mulbarton, Norfolk

Mulbarton, Norfolk

Mulbarton is a village and civil parish located south of Norwich in the English county of Norfolk. It covers an area of .The population at the 2001 census was 2,827....

 and his wife Honora Worlick, daughter of Charles Worlick. He was brought up in Norwich

Norwich

Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...

 and educated at Trinity College, Cambridge

Trinity College, Cambridge

Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...

 and Lincoln's Inn

Lincoln's Inn

The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn. Although Lincoln's Inn is able to trace its official records beyond...

.

In April 1640, having no local connections, Rich was elected Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 for Fowey

Fowey (UK Parliament constituency)

Fowey was a rotten borough in Cornwall which returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons in the English and later British Parliament from 1571 to 1832, when it was abolished by the Great Reform Act.-History:...

 in the Short Parliament

Short Parliament

The Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that sat from 13 April to 5 May 1640 during the reign of King Charles I of England, so called because it lasted only three weeks....

. He did not stand again and was appointed Vice-Admiral

Vice-Admiral of the Coast

The holder of the post Vice-Admiral of the Coast was responsible for the defence of one of the twenty maritime counties of England, the North and South of Wales, or the four provinces of Ireland....

 of Norfolk

Norfolk

Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...

 in 1644, remaining until 1649. In 1647 he became Master in Chancery  to hear and determine causes in Chancery. In 1651 he was appointed Commissioner for Assessment for the County of Middlesex

After the Restoration, Rich was knighted on 10 July 1666.

Rich died at the age of 81 and was buried at Swardeston

Swardeston

Swardeston is a village four miles south of Norwich in Norfolk, England, on high ground above the Tas valley. It covers an area of and had a population of 540 in 246 households as of the 2001 census.-History:...

. His memorial bears his own composition as he did not trust anyone else to write it.

And here resteth the Bones of Sir Edwin Rich, Knight, Son of Sir Edwin Rich, who died the 16 Day of November, 1675.


Our Lyef is like an Hower Glasse, and our Riches are like Sand in it, which runnes with us but the time of our Continuance here, and then must be turn'd up by an other.

So speake to God as if Men heard your talke,

Soe lyve with Men as if God sawe your walke;

When thou art young, to lyve well thou must strive;

When thou art old, to dye well then contryve.

Thetford, gave Breath, and Norwich, Breeding,

Trinity-Collidg, in Cambridg, Learning;

Lincolns-Inn, did teach me Law and Equity,

Reports I have Ade, in the Courte of Chancery ;

And though I cannot skill in Rymes, yet know it,

In my Lyfe I was my own deathles Poett.

For he who leaves his work to others truste,

May be deceived when he lyes in the Duste.

And nowe I have traveld through all these wayes,

Here I conclude the Storye of my Dayes.

And here my Rymes I ende, then ask no more,

Here lyes Sir Edwin Rich, who loveed the Poore.

Rich gave £200 for repairing the roads, between Wymondham

Wymondham

Wymondham is a historic market town and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It lies 9.5 miles to the south west of the city of Norwich, on the A11 road to Thetford and London.- Before The Great Fire :...

 and Attleborough

Attleborough

Attleborough is a market town and civil parish in Norfolk, England situated between Norwich and Thetford. The parish falls within the district of Breckland and has an area of 21.90 km² with a Mainline to both Norwich and Cambridge....

 in Norfolk and the justices of Norfolk, ordered a pillar to be erected by the road side in remembrance of this gift. He also gave £100 for building a bridge, and money to the poor of Thetford.

Rich married Jane Suckling, widow of Sir John Suckling

John Suckling (politician)

Sir John Suckling was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1601 and 1626.Suckling was the son of Robert Suckling mayor and MP of Norwich and his wife Elizabeth Barwick, daughter of William Barwick. He entered Gray's Inn on 22 May 1590. He was elected...

and daughter of Reeve but had no children.