PHILIPPS, Richard (by 1534-61), of Picton, Pembs.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1509-1558, ed. S.T. Bindoff, 1982
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

Family and Education

b. by 1534, 2nd or 3rd s. of John Philipps of Picton by 2nd w. Elizabeth, da. of Sir William Gruffydd of Penrhyn, Caern.; bro. of William. unm.2

Offices Held

Biography

Richard Philipps’s family claimed princely descent and was connected with the leading families in Pembrokeshire where it had settled on moving from Carmarthen in the late 15th century. Under his father’s will of 1549 Philipps inherited a share in property in the lordship of Llanstephan and at St. Clears. His return to the Parliament of 1555 reflected his connexions and preceded that of his brother William for the shire four years later. He was joined in the House by his equally youthful ‘cousins’, Sir Henry Jones, Richard Jones and Sir John Perrot, and by his uncle Sir Rhys Gruffyd. In view of the opposition of two of his cousins to a government bill it is tempting to identify Philipps with the ‘Mr. Fillips’ on the list of opponents to the measure, but the Member concerned is thought to have been John Phelips. Little else has come to light about Philipps. With the encouragement of the bard Gruffydd Hiraethog, and perhaps also of his own kinsman Gruffydd Done, he began a collection of Welsh proverbs, prose and poetry which was unfinished at his death in late September 1561.3

Ref Volumes: 1509-1558

Author: A. D.K. Hawkyard

Notes

  • 1. C219/330/28, pt. i.
  • 2. Presumed to be of age at election. Dwnn, Vis. Wales, i. 115.
  • 3. DWB (Philipps fam. of Picton); D. M iles, Sheriffs, Pembs. 15; PCC 14 Powell ptd. W. Wales Hist. Recs. vii. 161-4; Guildford mus. Loseley 1331/2; HMC Welsh, i. 937, 982; DWB erroneously gives the year of death as 1551, ex inf. M. Helen Davies, Dept. Mss and Ptd. Recs. NLW.