Colonel Richard Ingram, 5th Viscount Irvine

Rich Ingram was born in Yorkshire on 6 Jan 1688, the second son of Arthur Ingram, 3rd Viscount of Irvine and Isabella Machell. His father was Vice-Admiral of Yorkshire and MP for Yorkshire and Scarborough. Three of his brothers were at different times MP for Horsham and one, George, was Chaplain to the House of Commons. Rich was educated at Eton and studied at Christ’s College, Cambridge, also at the University of Leyden in 1704. From his maternal grandfather, John Machell (MP for Horsham) he inherited property at Hills, Horsham and a ‘burgage’ at Horsham, a borough of properties which were rented out. He owned properties in London and other parts of the country so that at the age of 21 he lived up to the name Rich, by which he was known. His elder brother, Edward, died of smallpox on the Grand Tour so that he inherited the Scottish Peerage of 5th Viscount Irvine (or Irwin) in 1714. He held the following appointments:
1714 Lord Lieutenant of of East Riding until 1721
1715 Governor of Kingston-upon-Hull until 1721
1715 Colonel of 16th Regiment of Foot 11 July 1715 to 12 Dec 1717
1717 Colonel of 1st King’s Regiment of Horse 13 Dec 1717 to 9 April 1721
In 1717 General Lumley decided to resign as Colonel of the regiment and sell the position. George I was anxious to put an end to the sale of colonelcies but it was not until the reign of George III that this could be dealt with. The price was 9,000 guineas which Lord Irvine found from selling his colonelcy of the 16th Foot for 3,000 guineas, borrowing 1,500 from the Government to clothe the men, and 1,500 from the sale of stock. Financial juggling provided the rest, and a dispute over the ‘off reckonings’ was sorted out so that Viscount Irvine took over as Colonel on 13 Dec 1717.
He was married to Lady Anne Howard in 1717. Her father was Charles Howard, 3rd Earl of Carlisle and her mother was Lady Anne Capel daughter of the Earl of Essex. There were no children. The portrait by Jonathan Richardson shows the happy couple, but their marriage was short. Rich died of smallpox on 10 April 1721. Lady Anne survived him until 1764.

Regimental Details | Colonels