Sir Richard Leveson was an English 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...

  from 1640 to 1642. He supported the Royalist cause during the English Civil War

English Civil War

The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...

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Leveson was the second son of Sir John Leveson of Halling, Kent

Halling, Kent

Halling is a village on the North Downs in the northern part of Kent, England, covering 7.1 square kilometres of land. Consisting of Lower Halling, Upper Halling and North Halling, it is scattered over some along the River Medway parallel to the Pilgrims' Way running over Kent.The origin of the...

 and his second wife Christian Mildmay. In 1605 he inherited property in Trentham, Staffordshire

Trentham, Staffordshire

Trentham is a suburb of Stoke-on-Trent, located to the south-west of the city centre and to the south of the neighbouring town of Newcastle-under-Lyme. Although the majority of Trentham is within the city limits, it is mostly separated from the main urban area by surrounding open space and the...

 and Lilleshall

Lilleshall

Lilleshall is a village in Shropshire, England.It lies between the towns of Telford and Newport, on the A518, in the Telford and Wrekin borough and the Wrekin constituency....

, Shropshire from his father’s cousin Vice-Admiral Sir Richard Leveson

Richard Leveson (admiral)

Vice Admiral Sir Richard Leveson was the son of Sir Walter Leveson of Lilleshall Hall, Lilleshall, Shropshire, and his wife Anne Corbet, daughter of Sir Andrew Corbet of Moreton Corbet, Salop....

. Leveson's elder brother John, who was intended to inherit his father's estates, died in 1612, three years before his father. Leveson therefore inherited his father’s estates in Kent as well as the Vice-Admiral’s estates. He rebuilt the family seat at Trentham Hall between 1630 and 1638 at a cost of over £6000.

In November 1640, Leveson 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 Newcastle under Lyme in the Long Parliament

Long Parliament

The Long Parliament was made on 3 November 1640, following the Bishops' Wars. It received its name from the fact that through an Act of Parliament, it could only be dissolved with the agreement of the members, and those members did not agree to its dissolution until after the English Civil War and...

. He encouraged Royalist support in Staffordshire and was disabled from sitting in parliament on 24 November 1642 for raising forces against parliament. In 1645 Lilleshall Hall

Lilleshall Hall

Lilleshall Hall is a large former country house and estate located near Lilleshall in Shropshire, England. It was founded as an Augustinian Abbey in the 12th century, with its estate running to some...

 fell to the parliamentaty army and Leveson was imprisoned at the Parliamentary Garrison in Namptwich.

Leveson married Katherine Dudley, daughter of Sir Robert Dudley but had no children.