Richard Burke was a barrister and Member of Parliament in England.
Background
He was born in Battersea, the son of Edmund Burke and Jane Mary Nugent. His father had high hopes for "the Whelp", never to be realized. In 1791 Richard carried out a mission to the Koblenz headquarters of the French émigré army on behalf of his father, who was indulging in private diplomacy.
Education
He was educated at Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford, and was called to the bar at the Middle Temple in 1780.
Career
In 1794 his father resigned his seat in parliament over the failure to convict Warren Hastings in a parliamentary impeachment. The elder Burke suffered grief on a scale described by eyewitnesses as "truly terrific". In the words of his biographer, Edmund"s bursts of affliction were of fearful force, so overwhelming indeed as to fright and almost to paralyze those who were around them.
The Dictionary of National Biography article describes the grief of the parents as "almost uncontrollable", and his father considered himself ‘marked by the hand of God’ His contacts with Samuel Johnson were fairly slight, and on one occasion involved a rebuke to the younger man for futile attempts at "smart drollery".
Membership
Richard was elected Member of Parliament for Malton, North Yorkshire, in succession to his father, but fell ill soon afterwards, and died in South Kensington at the early age of thirty-six on 2 August 1794, and was buried in Beaconsfield. Richard had been a member of The Club since 1782.