Sir Robert Rich, 4th Baronet

Field Marshal Sir Robert Rich, 4th Baronet (3 July 1685

He fought in the War of the Spanish Succession at the Battle of Schellenberg in July 1704, where he was wounded, and at the Battle of Blenheim in August 1704, where he was wounded again. Promoted to lieutenant in the Brigadier-General Tatton's Regiment and captain in the Army, he succeeded his brother Charles as 4th Baronet in October 1706, and was then promoted to captain in the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards and lieutenant-colonel in the Army in March 1708. That year he was also elected Member of Parliament for Dunwich. In June 1717 he was stripped of his regiment for voting against the Government on a motion accusing Lord Cadogan of fraud and embezzlement during the transport of some Dutch troops. He was defeated in the general election in 1722 but having strongly supported Sir Robert Walpole, firstly when Walpole was in opposition and then when Walpole was in the Government, was rewarded with the colonelcy of the 13th Hussars in November 1722. he went on to be colonel of The King's Regiment of Carabineers in January 1731, colonel of the 1st Troop Horse of Grenadier Guards in July 1733 and, finally, colonel of the 4th Regiment of Dragoons in May 1735.

Promoted to major-general on 18 December 1735 and lieutenant general on 17 July 1739, Rich became Governor of the Royal Hospital Chelsea in May 1740. He served with the Pragmatic Army under the Earl of Stair at the Battle of Dettingen in June 1743 during the War of the Austrian Succession.

Rich was promoted to general of horse on 24 March 1746 and to field marshal on 3 December 1757. In retirement he continued to live in the family home, Roos Hall in Beccles. He died on 1 February 1768.

Family In 1710 Rich married Elizabeth Griffith; they had three sons, including Sir Robert Rich, 5th Baronet and Sir George Rich, 6th Baronet, and one daughter, Elizabeth, who married George Lyttelton, 1st Baron Lyttelton.