Richard Bigham, 4th Viscount Mersey

Richard Maurice Clive Bigham, 4th Viscount Mersey, (8 July 1934 – 5 August 2006) was a British peer, Conservative politician, and convicted child sexual abuser.

Background Richard Bigham was the eldest son of the 3rd Viscount Mersey, Edward Clive Bigham, and the 12th Lady Nairne, Katherine Evelyn Constance Petty-Fitzmaurice Bigham. They had a son, Ned.

Career Bigham was a lieutenant in the Irish Guards from 1952 to 1954. He later became a documentary film maker and was president of a number of organisations.

Politics Bigham became the 4th Baron Mersey and the 4th Viscount Mersey upon the death of his father on 2 August 1979. He succeeded to the Lordship of Nairne upon the death of his mother on 20 October 1995. He became a Conservative Party peer on 11 November 1980 and remained in the House of Lords until 11 November 1999, when his hereditary seat was abolished with the enactment of the House of Lords Act 1999.

Child sexual abuse conviction In 2025, Bigham was featured on an episode of the BBC Radio crime documentary In Dark Corners. The piece discussed his criminal conviction for sexual offences against two children aged 6 and 10 in 1978.