Background

He was born in Dublin, eldest son of Charles Ryves, a Chancery official and his wife Jane Ogden; he was a grandson of Sir William Ryves, judge of the King's Bench

King's Bench

The Queen's Bench is the superior court in a number of jurisdictions within some of the Commonwealth realms...

 in Ireland 1636-1648. The Ryves family were originally from Dorset

Dorset

Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...

, but Richard prided himself on being a true Dubliner.He married Mary Savage of Dublin in 1673. He lived first at St. Michael's Lane, then at Capel Street.

Career

He graduated from the University of Dublin, was called to the English Bar in 1669 then returned to practice in Ireland. He enjoyed the patronage of the Duke of Ormonde, through whom he obtained the position of Recorder of Kilkenny

Kilkenny

Kilkenny is a city and is the county town of the eponymous County Kilkenny in Ireland. It is situated on both banks of the River Nore in the province of Leinster, in the south-east of Ireland...

 in 1671. In 1680 the office of Recorder of Dublin

Recorder of Dublin

The Recorder of Dublin was a judicial position in Dublin, Ireland. The first to hold the position was James Stanihurst, speaker of the Irish parliament, in 1564 and the last was Sir Thomas O'Shaughnessy. The Recordership was abolished in 1924....

 became vacant; Ryves who prided himself on being a "town- born child" applied for and obtained it. However as a Whig in politics he fell out of favout with James II

James II

James II may refer to:* James II, Count of La Marche , King Consort of Naples* James II , the second EP by Mancunian band James* James II of Aragon , King of Sicily...

 and was removed from office in 1687.

He moved to England and supported the Revolution of 1688

Glorious Revolution

The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...

. Returning to Ireland was appointed one of the Commissioners of the Great Seal in 1690. He declined an offer to resume the recordership of Dublin on health grounds, but accepted the position of Baron of the Exchequer.

Death

Ryves suffered from ill-health all his life and by 1691 appears to have ben almost incapacitated; he acepted a seat on the Bench in 1692, but died early the following year.