Richard Arundell, 1st Baron Arundell of Trerice (1616 – 7 September 1687) 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...

  at various times between 1640 and 1664 when he was raised to the peerage. He fought in the Royalist army in the English Civil War

English Civil War

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

.

Life

Arundell was the second son of Sir John Arundell

John Arundell (born 1576)

Sir John Arundell , nicknamed "Jack for the King", was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1597 and 1640. He was Royalist governor of Pendennis Castle during the English Civil War....

 of Trerice and his wife Mary Cary, daughter of George Cary of Clovelley. In April 1640, he 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 Lostwithiel

Lostwithiel (UK Parliament constituency)

Lostwithiel 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 1304 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 was re-elected MP for Lostwithiel for 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...

 in November 1640, but was expelled in 1642 for putting into execution the commission of array

Commission of Array

A Commission of Array was a commission given by English royalty to officers or gentry in a given territory to muster and array the inhabitants and to see them in a condition for war, or to put soldiers of a country in a condition for military service...

.

In the Civil War, Arundell was a colonel in the king's army, and Lord Clarendon describes him as 'a stout and diligent officer. His father was the defender of Pendennis Castle

Pendennis Castle

Pendennis Castle is a Henrician castle, also known as one of Henry VIII's Device Forts, in the English county of Cornwall. It was built in 1539 for King Henry VIII to guard the entrance to the River Fal on its west bank, near Falmouth. St Mawes Castle is its opposite number on the east bank and...

 and Arundell was present at that siege. Arundell also fought at the battle of Edgehill

Battle of Edgehill

The Battle of Edgehill was the first pitched battle of the First English Civil War. It was fought near Edge Hill and Kineton in southern Warwickshire on Sunday, 23 October 1642....

 and battle of Lansdowne

Battle of Lansdowne

The English Civil War battle of Lansdowne was fought on 5 July 1643, near Bath, southwest England. Although the Royalists under Lord Hopton forced the Parliamentarians under Sir William Waller to retreat from their hilltop position, they suffered so many casualties themselves and were left so...

. His estates were confiscated by the parliament in 1647, but on the English Restoration

English Restoration

The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...

 were recovered by him.

In June 1660, Arundell was elected MP for Bere Alston

Bere Alston (UK Parliament constituency)

Bere Alston or Beeralston was a parliamentary borough in Devon, which elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons from 1584 until 1832, when the constituency was abolished by the Great Reform Act as a rotten borough.-History:...

 in the Convention Parliament. In 1662 Charles II redeemed the promise of Charles I, who writing from Oxford in January 1643, had promised William Killigrew

William Killigrew

Sir William Killigrew was an English court official under Charles I and Charles II.He was the son of Sir Robert Killigrew and Mary Woodhouse, of Kimberley, Norfolk, his wife. He was the elder brother to Thomas Killigrew...

 that Richard Arundell should succeed his father in the government of Pendennis Castle. Arundell was re-elected MP for Bere Alston in January 1662 and sat until 23 March 1664 when he was created a baron.

Arundell died 7 September 1687.

Arundell married Gertrude Slanning, widow of Sir Nicholas Slanning

Nicholas Slanning

Sir Nicholas Slanning was an English soldier and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1640 to 1642. He was a Royalist army officer active in the West of England, during the English Civil War.-Background:...

 and daughter of Sir James Bagge, of Saltram, Devon. His son John

John Arundell, 2nd Baron Arundell of Trerice

John Arundell, 2nd Baron Arundell of Trerice was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1666 and 1687 when he inherited his peerage....

succeeded him in the barony.