Richard Reynell (died 1735)

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Richard Reynell (c. 1681 – June 1735) of East Ogwell and Denbury, Devon, was an English landowner and Tory politician. He sat in the English House of Commons from 1702 to 1708 as MP for Ashburton, and in the British House of Commons from 1711 to 1734.

He was the eldest surviving son of Thomas Reynell and Elizabeth Gould, and inherited the family estate in 1698.

Reynell was elected MP for Ashburton in 1702 (unopposed). He won again in 1705 in a contested election and was regarded as Low Church, voting against the Court candidate for Speaker. He lost in 1708 and again in 1710, but was seated in 1711 after a petition. He was described early on as a “worthy patriot” but later appeared as a somewhat whimsical Tory sympathetic to dissent. He was elected again in 1713, and returned unopposed in 1715. Although sometimes labeled a Whig, he opposed the administration in many votes. He was returned in 1722, and won a contested election in 1727. He was defeated in 1734.

Reynell died in June 1735 at East Ogwell and was buried there on 14 June. In his will, he named his niece Rebecca Whitrow (married to Joseph Taylor) as beneficiary. He had asked that the estates be sold for her benefit, but Taylor bought them outright and later settled them on his wife and their son.