Richard Hampden

Richard Hampden (baptized 13 October 1631 – 15 December 1695) was an English Whig politician and son of Ship money tax protestor John Hampden. He was sworn a Privy Counsellor in 1689 and was Chancellor of the Exchequer from 18 March 1690 until 10 May 1694.

Like his father and son he sided with Parliament against the House of Stuart. During the interregnum he was elected Member of Parliament for Buckinghamshire in the Second Protectorate Parliament of 1656 and voted in favour of offering the crown to the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell. In 1657 he entered the Other House (the protectorate's House of Lords). He purchased the manors of Wendover Borough and Forrens from John Baldwin in 1660. Also in 1660 he was elected MP for Wendover (a constituency dominated by his family) in the Convention Parliament, and was elected to represent the same constituency in the Cavalier Parliament(1661–1679). After the fall of Earl of Clarendon in 1667, he became more active in politics, voicing his opposition to the war with the Dutch and the alliance with France. By the latter half of the 1670s he was considered by Earl of Shaftesbury to be an ally. Hampden was particularly active during the Popish Plot and undermined the authority of the Lord Treasurer the Earl of Danby.