Richard Sharp (politician) facts for kids

Richard Sharp (1759 – 30 March 1835) was an important English person known for many things. He was a hat-maker, a banker, and a merchant. He also wrote poetry and was a critic. Later, he became a Member of Parliament (MP), which means he helped make laws for the country.

People in London society gave him many nicknames. He was called "Hatter Sharp" or "Furrier Sharp" because of his business. He was also known as "Copenhagen Sharp" after he gave a speech in Parliament. In this speech, he criticized Britain's attack on Copenhagen in 1807. But his most famous nickname was "Conversation" Sharp. This was because he was incredibly good at talking and discussing ideas with people. He was also a respected member of the Royal Society and the Society of Antiquaries of London.

Early Life and Family Business

Richard Sharp came from a family that had been in the cloth and hat-making business for a long time. His grandfather, also named Richard Sharp (born around 1690), started as an apprentice in 1712. He learned the hat-making trade in London.

By the 1730s, his grandfather became a partner in a successful hat business called Baker & Sharp. They often bought beaver fur from the Hudson's Bay Company. This fur was used to make felt "hoods," which were then shaped into finished hats.

Richard's grandfather retired around 1747. He continued the business and later took his nephew, John Sharp, as a partner. But John died in 1766. Richard's only son, also named Richard, had joined the army. He was stationed in Newfoundland, where he married Elizabeth Adams in 1759. This couple had two sons: Richard (born 1759) and William. Sadly, Richard's son died in London in 1765.

To keep the business in the family, the grandfather made plans for his grandsons. He took another hatter, Thomas Cable Davis, as a partner. Davis married the boys' mother in 1769. The grandfather's will stated that young Richard would become an apprentice and later a partner in the hat business. In 1775, Richard, the elder grandson, started his apprenticeship.

Young Richard Sharp's future in the hat business was set when he was just 11 years old. His wealthy grandfather wanted to keep the business in the family. Before his apprenticeship, Richard studied with a private tutor, Rev. John Fell, in Thaxted, Essex. Richard's family were "Dissenters," meaning they were Protestants who were not part of the official Church of England. Studying with Rev. Fell opened Richard's mind to other possibilities beyond hat-making. Richard and Fell remained friends, and Sharp even wrote a preface for Fell's book, An Essay towards an English Grammar (1784).

Becoming a Public Figure

As Richard Sharp grew older, he looked for ways to use his mind and get involved in important issues. He had some money from his family, which helped him meet interesting people in London. Many of these people were also Dissenters and enjoyed discussing new ideas and books.

Sharp was admitted to the Inner Temple in 1786. This was a place where people studied to become lawyers, though he never fully became one. In 1788, he joined the Committee for the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade. This group worked to end the buying and selling of enslaved people. He also joined other political clubs that wanted to make changes in society.

In 1798, Sharp left the hat-making business. His stepfather, Davis, died two years later, and the business closed. Sharp then joined a friend, Samuel Boddington, in a West India merchant firm. This new business made a lot of money, which helped Sharp become very wealthy. However, this business also involved trade with plantations that used enslaved people. This must have been a challenge to his anti-slavery beliefs.

People who knew Sharp described him as a kind and wise person. One person said that his "great conversational powers and his unbounded goodness of heart made him universally welcome." They also said that "statesmen went to him for counsel and advice." He was considered one of the most popular people in London society.

Sharp became so rich from his merchant work and investments that he left a large sum of money when he died. He was known as "one of the most considerable merchants in London." His knowledge of shipping helped him give advice to famous writers like Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth.

Amazing Conversation Skills

Even though Richard Sharp came from humble beginnings, his amazing intelligence and ability to talk gained him a place in the highest social circles. This is how he got his famous nickname, "Conversation Sharp." He was known for his kindness and wisdom.

John William Ward, a very wealthy and clever man, described Richard Sharp as:

Hatter Sharp, alias Copenhagen Sharp, alias Conversation Sharp, he is my particular friend, and I cannot forbear adding in perfect seriousness one of the most thoroughly amiable, good-tempered, well-informed, sensible men that I have ever become acquainted with.

Francis Horner, a lawyer and writer, met Sharp in London and was very impressed:

He is a very extraordinary man... His great subject is criticism, upon which he always appears to me original and profound... he is both subtle and feeling. Next to literature, the powers of his understanding... show themselves in the judgement of characters; he has seen much of the great men of the last generation and he appears to have seen them well.

Horner later wrote that he respected and loved Sharp more and more every day. Sir James Mackintosh, another friend, felt that Sharp had influenced his thinking more than almost anyone else. Even famous poet Lord Byron said that Sharp had "lived much with the best" people of his time.

Macaulay, a famous historian, also admired Sharp. He wrote that Sharp "never talks scandal." If Sharp couldn't say anything good about someone, he would stay quiet. This showed Sharp's good character.

As a young man, Sharp met famous figures like Samuel Johnson and Edmund Burke. He was also close friends with the actress Sarah Siddons and the actor John Henderson.

Friends and Acquaintances

Sharp's reputation as a critic grew when his close friend Samuel Rogers became a very popular poet. Both Sharp and Rogers visited William Wordsworth and helped him gain support in London. The Rogers family was well-known among Dissenters. Sharp and Rogers were known for their good taste, which was highly valued at the time.

The Rogers' home in London was visited by almost every important person. Both Sharp and Rogers were regulars at Holland House, a popular meeting place for important politicians and thinkers. When Sharp moved to Park Lane, he bought portraits of famous people like Johnson and Burke. These paintings showed his love for language, public speaking, and art.

At his country home in Mickleham, Surrey, Sharp hosted many important guests. These included politicians, artists, scientists, and clever thinkers from different countries, like Mme de Staël. Some of his guests were Henry Hallam, John Stuart Mill, Michael Faraday, Charles Babbage, and Maria Edgeworth.

In Politics

By the late 1780s, Richard Sharp was a central figure in the Dissenter movement in London. This was a time of big changes, and young Whig thinkers like him were sometimes viewed with suspicion. He was part of groups like the Society for Constitutional Information and helped create the Society of the Friends of the People. He also worked with the Dissenters' "Deputies" to try and overturn the Test Acts. These laws unfairly treated Dissenters. Sharp wrote a famous letter supporting the repeal of these laws.

In 1787, the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade was formed. Richard Sharp was elected to its committee. This committee created powerful images showing how crowded and terrible conditions were on slave ships, like the Brookes. These images showed that each enslaved person had less than 2 meters of height and 0.5 meters of width for a journey that could last six months or more. These pictures helped change public opinion and led to the end of the slave trade.

Sharp represented the Whig party as a Member of Parliament (MP) several times:

• For Castle Rising, from 1806 to 1812.
• For Portarlington, from 1816 to 1819.
• For Ilchester, from 1826 to 1827.

In Parliament, he often sat next to his friend Samuel Whitbread. Sharp supported Whitbread's efforts to create public education for everyone.

Clubs and Societies

Sharp was a founding member of the "King of Clubs," an intellectual conversation club. He was also a member of many other London clubs and societies, including Brooks's and the Athenaeum.

In 1787, he became a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, a group that studies history and old objects. In 1806, he became a Fellow of the Royal Society, a very important scientific society. Famous scientists like James Watt and Humphry Davy supported his application. From 1810 to 1812, he was the head of the Fishmongers' Company, a historic London guild.

London Institution

Richard Sharp used his intelligence and speaking skills to make real changes. He was a key figure in starting the London Institution in 1806. This institution aimed to provide popular education in science and literature. One person said that the London Institution was created "chiefly owing to his influences and exertions."

Sharp was on the management committee of the Institution for most of his life. He served as its chairman in 1810 and as Vice-President in 1827 and 1831. As his interest in education grew, he supported efforts to create a proper system of state education and a city university in London.

Sharp's work in education came before others like George Birkbeck, who started Mechanics' Institutes in the 1820s. Many people who helped found the London Institution later helped create the new University of London.

Final Years and Death

Towards the end of his life, Richard Sharp liked to spend winters at his house in Torquay. He had suffered from a cough and chest problems his whole life. Torquay was known for its healthy air and beautiful scenery.

In 1834, the winter was very harsh. As Sharp's health worsened, he decided he wanted to die in his beloved London. He set off for the city with his family and servants. However, he only made it as far as Dorchester, where he passed away at a coaching inn on March 30, 1835.

It is said that his friend, 70-year-old George Philips, rode through the night on his horse to ensure Sharp's will was safe. He wanted to prevent a nephew from getting hold of it and changing it.

Personal Life

Richard Sharp never married. However, around 1812, he adopted an infant girl named Maria Kinnaird. She had become an orphan after a terrible volcano eruption in the West Indies.

As a teenager, Maria was good friends with William Wordsworth's daughter, Dora. Maria later had an interesting life in London society. Many young men were interested in Maria, including Macaulay. In 1835, she married Thomas Drummond, who later became an important government official in Ireland.

Published Work

Sharp's only book was Letters and Essays in Prose and Verse, published in 1834. The Quarterly Review described it as remarkable for its "wisdom, wit, knowledge of the world and sound criticism." Several versions of his book were published, including one in America.

Sharp thought about writing a history of American independence. He even wrote to his friends, John Adams and John Quincy Adams, who were important figures in American history, about this idea. He also considered writing a travel guide to Europe. He traveled so much that people sometimes called him "the Thomas Cook of his day," referring to the famous travel agent. However, he never finished these projects.

Images for kids

• Bodleian Library.jpg

  A drawing of Richard Sharp, the only known image of him.