Richard Erdeswicke

Richard Erdeswicke (1594-1640) was an English MP, whose public career was hampered by debt.

Life Erdeswicke was the son of the Staffordshire antiquary Sampson Erdeswicke by his second wife Mary (née Neale), daughter of Francis Neale of Keythorpe in Leicestershire. His family were staunchly recusant. He was still a minor when his father died and his wardship was acquired by Thomas Gerard, 1st Baron Gerard, who sold it back to Erdeswicke's mother. His mother borrowed money from his half-brother Sir Everard Digby to purchase Erdeswicke's wardship, which led to complications when Everard was executed for his part in the 1605 Gunpowder Plot and his estate confiscated by the Crown.

Despite his family's Catholicism, Erdeswicke was educated at Eton, Cambridge and the Inns of Court. He sold Sandon to Digby, but this did not solve his problems and he was eventually imprisoned for debt in the Fleet Prison, where he died. He left one son Sampson (d. 1654).