Richard Ker

{{short description|Irish politician and cricketer}}

{{For|the Irish MP (1880s)|Richard Ker (MP)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2016}}

{{Use British English|date=December 2016}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Richard Ker

| image =

| alt =

| caption =

| office1 = Member of Parliament for Downpatrick

| term1 = 1847-1851
1857-1859

| party = Peelite Conservative

| birth_date = {{birth date|1822|07|21|df=yes}}

| birth_place =

| death_date = {{death date and age|1890|12|18|1822|07|21|df=yes}}

| death_place = South Kensington, England

| education = Corpus Christi College, Oxford

| father = David Guardi Ker

| relatives = David Stewart Ker (brother)
Robert Stewart (grandfather)
Robert Stewart (uncle)
John Waring Maxwell (uncle)

}}

Richard John Charles Rivers Ker (21 July 1822 – 18 December 1890) was an Irish politician and first-class cricketer.

Biography

He was a son of David Guardi Ker, MP for Athlone 1820-1826 and Downpatrick 1835-1841, and Selina Sarah, daughter of the first Marquess of Londonderry, and the younger brother of David Stewart Ker, the Member of Parliament for Downpatrick, 1841-1847 and 1859-1867 and one of the Members of Parliament for County Down, 1852-1857Burke's Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland, 1871, P 729 He was educated in England at Eton College,{{cite book |title=Eton School Lists from 1791 to 1850 |first=H. E. C. |last=Stapylton |date=1864 |publisher=E. P. Williams |pages=164 |url=https://archive.org/details/etonschoollistsf00lond/page/164/ |language=en}} before going up to Corpus Christi College, Oxford.{{cite book |title=Alumni Oxonienses |date=1891 |first=Joseph |last=Foster |chapter=Ker, Richard John Charles Rivers |publisher=Parker and Company |pages=790 |url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Alumni_Oxonienses:_the_Members_of_the_University_of_Oxford,_1715-1886/Ker,_Richard_John_Charles_Rivers |language=en}} While studying at Oxford, he made three appearances in first-class cricket for Oxford University in 1841–2, playing twice against the Marylebone Cricket Club and once in The University Match against Cambridge.{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/37/37132/First-Class_Matches.html |title=First-Class Matches played by Richard Ker |publisher=CricketArchive |accessdate=2020-06-18 |url-access=subscription}}

He was elected as a Peelite Conservative Member of Parliament for Downpatrick in 1847, resigning through appointment as Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds on 1 August 1851. He was again elected in an 1857 by-election for the same seat, but did not stand in the 1859 general election. Ker died in England at South Kensington in December 1890.{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/37/37132/37132.html |title=Player profile: Richard Ker |publisher=CricketArchive |accessdate=2020-06-16 |url-access=subscription}}

References