Richard Hough (politician)

Richard Hough (5 November 1505 – 10 December 1574), of Leighton and Thornton Hough, Cheshire was an English landowner and politician. He was elected MP for Cheshire in 1558 under Mary I and after the accession of Elizabeth I was appointed a commissioner of the peace for Cheshire in 1562.

Early life
Hough was born at Leighton, the eldest son of Thomas Hough (died 1513) of Leighton and Thornton Hough, Cheshire and Catherine Grosvenor, daughter of Thomas Grosvenor of Eaton, Cheshire. He was six years old when his father died in June 1513, but nothing is known of his wardship, upbringing or education.

Career
He was in the service of Thomas Cromwell from around 1534 until 1540. In 1536 he appears more specifically as one of the Lord Privy Seal’s men, being then described as a "sage and sober person": he was not in regular service but was one of those to be allowed in the household only "when they have commandment or cause necessary to repair thither". Hough acted as Cromwell's agent in Chester, and in January 1538 he reminded the minister of a promise to make him rider of Delamere Forest in Cheshire. In 1540 he carried messages and letters to the council in Ireland.

After Cromwell's death Hough served with his brother-in-law, Sir Hugh Calverley, in the Scottish campaign in 1544. His eldest son, William, married the late minister's illegitimate daughter, Jane. William Hough, a former pupil of Nicholas Sanders and a servant of Sir Francis Englefield, was the only member of his family of the Catholic faith.

In 1558 Hough was elected senior knight of the shire for Cheshire and following Elizabeth I's accession served as commissioner of the peace for Cheshire from 1562 until his death in 1574. In his support for the new religious settlement with which the bishop of Chester credited him in 1564 he differed from his son William who suffered imprisonment and sequestration as a recusant.

Marriages and children
He married, firstly, Christian Calverley, daughter of Sir George Calverley of Lea, Cheshire, by whom he had five sons:
 * William Hough (c. 1527 – 10 February 1585) married Jane Cromwell (died 1580), illegitimate daughter of Thomas Cromwell (c. 1485 – 1540) of London, with whom he had a daughter:
 * Alice Hough (born 1550) married William Whitmore of Thurstaston.
 * Thomas Hough (died 1580) married Elizabeth Wilbraham, daughter of Richard Wilbraham of Woodhey, Cheshire.
 * John Hough
 * Anthony Hough
 * Henry Hough

He married, secondly, Margaret Hurleston (died 1573), daughter of James Hurleston of Chester and widow of William Hocknell (died 1563) of Prenton, by whom he had no children:

Death
He died on 10 December and was buried on 13 December 1574 at the parish church, at Neston, Cheshire. The Wirral manors of Leighton and Thornton Hough passed to his son, William.