Richard Topham

He was son of John Topham, acting as serjeant-at-arms of the House of Commons from 1678 until his death in 1692 (for Sir William Bishop) and his wife Joan Stoughton. He was educated at Eton College, and matriculated at Trinity College, Oxford in 1689. On his father's death, he was unable to nominate the successor. Turning away from a possible legal career, he managed land holdings in New Windsor.{{cite web |title=The Organization of the House, History of Parliament Online |url=http://www.histparl.ac.uk/volume/1690-1715/survey/organization-house |website=www.histparl.ac.uk}}

Topham was elected to the House of Commons for New Windsor in 1698, and was identified as a Country Party supporter. His parliamentary interests were mainly constituency concerns, and private bills. In 1707, he persuaded William Petyt, the Keeper of Records in the Tower of London, who was ill and died that year, to pass to him the post. He retired from politics in 1713.

As Keeper of the Records, Topham attracted early criticism for his lack of relevant experience. He deflected it by giving deputy status to George Holmes; and by administrative innovation.{{cite book |last1=Sicca |first1=Cinzia Maria |title=John Talman: An Early-eighteenth-century Connoisseur |date=2008 |publisher=Yale Center for British Art, the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art |isbn=978-0-300-12335-7 |page=290 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=43DqAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA290 |language=en}}

Topham was a bibliophile and collector in his own right. His library, dominated by Latin and Greek classics, amounted to some 1300 books.{{cite book |last1=Attar |first1=Karen |title=Directory of Rare Book and Special Collections in the UK and Republic of Ireland |date=2016 |publisher=Facet Publishing |isbn=978-1-78330-016-7 |page=397 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sQUUDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA397 |language=en}} His so-called "paper museum", of drawings, watercolours and prints, reached 3000 items.{{cite book |last1=Sicca |first1=Cinzia Maria |title=John Talman: An Early-eighteenth-century Connoisseur |date=2008 |publisher=Yale Center for British Art, the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art |isbn=978-0-300-12335-7 |page=287 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=43DqAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA287 |language=en}} Among those were 53 drawings by Pompeo Batoni.{{cite ODNB|id=66321|first=Edgar Peters|last=Bowron|title=Batoni, Pompeo Girolamo}}

The evidence is not convincing that Topham made a Grand Tour.{{cite book |last1=Lavagne |first1=Henri |title=Hadrien empereur et architecte: la Villa d'Hadrien : tradition et modernité d'un paysage culturel : actes du Colloque international organisé par le Centre culturel du Panthéon en collaboration avec la Mairie de Paris |date=2002 |publisher=Vögele |page=86 |isbn=9783952215425 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CMWfAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA86 |language=fr}} He used agents to build up his collection, in particular John Talman.{{cite book |last1=Walker |first1=Matthew |title=Architects and Intellectual Culture in Post-restoration England |date=2017 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-874635-5 |page=64 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rsU2DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA64 |language=en}} He owned a large house in Peascod Street, Windsor. There he had a collection of classical statuary.{{cite book |last1=Noy |first1=David |title=Dr Johnson's Friend and Robert Adam's Client Topham Beauclerk |date=2016 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=978-1-4438-9325-1 |pages=19, 190 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ApX6DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA19 |language=en}}

Topham did not marry. His mother Joan, who died in 1721, lived with him in Peascod Street. Sidney Beauclerk lived with them, for a period, from around age 15 (c. 1718), when he went to Eton.{{cite book |last1=Noy |first1=David |title=Dr Johnson's Friend and Robert Adam's Client Topham Beauclerk |date=2016 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=978-1-4438-9325-1 |pages=8–9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ApX6DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA8 |language=en}}

Topham's sister Annabella married Thomas Reeve, who died in 1737.{{cite ODNB|id=23303|first=J. H.|last=Baker|title=Reeve, Sir Thomas}} Via Reeve, Topham's heir was Beauclerk.{{cite web| url =http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1715-1754/member/beauclerk-sidney-1703-44 | title=Beauclerk, Lord Sidney (1703-44). | publisher= History of Parliament Online}}

File:Bartoli ceiling drawing.jpg

The Topham Collection of prints and drawings went to Eton College.{{cite book |last1=Stam |first1=David H. |title=International Dictionary of Library Histories |date=2001 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-77785-1 |page=316 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=APtYCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA316 |language=en}} It is now understood that Robert Adam's ideas on neo-classical interior decoration, evolved in the 1760s, were influenced directly by graphical work of Francesco Bartoli in this collection. Charles Cameron is also believed to have made use of the works, without acknowledgement.Frank Salmon, The Topham Collection: Eton, The Burlington Magazine Vol. 155, No. 1328, Sculpture (November 2013), pp. 788–789. Published by: Burlington Magazine Publications Ltd. {{JSTOR|24240983}}

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Category:1671 births

Category:1730 deaths

Category:Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies

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Category:17th-century English politicians

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