Robert Rich, 2nd Baron Rich (c1537-1581) was an English nobleman.
He was the eldest son of Richard Rich, 1st Baron Rich by his wife Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of William Jenks of London.[1]
He married around 1555 Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of George Baldrey (d. 1540)[2] and granddaughter of Sir Thomas Baldry, Lord Mayor of London in 1514.[3] Their children were:
His father was reprimanded by the privy council in 1562 for seeking to have Rich elected as knight of the shire in preference to William Petre.[4] This may have been due to suspicions of Petre's religious views, as Rich was a strong Protestant who later had the Calvinist Robert Wright as his domestic chaplain.[5]
In 1578 a dispute between Rich and one Edward Windham led to skirmishes in Fleet Street between their servants,[6] which resulted in Windham's imprisonment.[7] Following his death his property in London and Essex was valued at £1,857.[8]
He is presumably the kneeling figure represented on the monument to his father in Felsted church.[9]