EDGEWORTH, RICHARD LOVELL, an ingenious mechanical philosopher, but better known as the father and literary associate of Maria Edgeworth, was born at Bath, in 1744. He was descended from an English family, which had settled in Ireland in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and resided in Edgeworthtown, in the county of Longford, where his boyhood was chiefly spent A hasty marriage, contracted at the age of nineteen, while he was an under-graduate of Corpus College, Oxford, cut short his studies at that university, and led him to return home ; but in 1765, intending to be called to the bar, he came to England, and took a house at Hare Hatch, between Maidenhead and Reading. During his visits to London to keep his terms, he became acquainted with Sir Francis Delaval and other gay and sporting men of the day, concerning whom a number of anecdotes are preserved in Mr. Edgeworth's autobiography. In that society he was distinguished by a high flow of spirits, and an uncommon share of that activity and ingenuity which adapts itself to the lighter pursuits of social amusement as readily as to higher and more serious purposes. At home he was chiefly occupied in prosecuting a variety of ingenious mechanical contrivances, among which we may mention the first erection of a telegraph in England, originating in a bet relative to the speedy transmission of racing news from New market to London. During this residence in Berkshire he became acquainted with the eccentric philanthropist Thomas Day, with whom he lived in the closest friendship. His mcchanicel pursuits introduced him to Dr. Darwin, and subsequently to Watt and Bolton, Wedgwood, and other eminent scientific men. In 1769, by his father's death, he came into possession of a handsome fortune, and gave up the intention of following the law as a profession.
Mr. Edgeworth returned to Ireland in 1782, "with the firm deter mination," ho says, "to dedicate the remainder of his life to the Improvement of his estate and the education of his children, and with the sincere hope of contributing to the amelioration of the inhabitants of the country from which be drew his subsistence." To this resolu tion, during the remaining thirty-five years of his life he steadfastly adhered; devoting his best powers to the useful performance of his duties as a magistrate, a landlord, and a father. He was an active and Inflnential member of the Irish Volunteers, and continued, after their dissolution, and through life, a steady advocate of' reform in parliament, be was a member of the last Irish house of commons, and spoke and voted in opposition to the Union. Retaining the ardent spirit of his youth, be engaged in a variety of projects for reclaiming bogs, establishing a system of telegraphic communication, experiments on the construction of carriages, moveable railroads, &c. In the
cultivation of his estate and in the management of his tenantry he was skilful, prudent, and humane. His judicious and discriminating kindness and his acknowledged impartiality as a magistrate (a rare quality then in Ireland) gained their sincere affection, insomuch that in the insurrection of 1793, though he was absent and assisting with his corps of yeomanry in the defence of Longford, his house at Edgeworthtown was visited by the rebels, and yet was preserved uninjured and untouched. He died June 13, 1817, after an old age of unusual activity and power of enjoyment.
Mr. Edgeworth married four wives, by all of whom he had children. The number of his children, and their unusual difference in age, a difference amounting, between the eldest and youngest, to more than forty years, gave him peculiar opportunities of trying experiments in education, and watching their results. His family were brought up almost entirely at home, and with an unusual degree of parental care. The results of his experiments were made public in 1798, in a work which at the time attracted much attention—'Praotical Education,' a treatise written principally by Miss Edgeworth, but partly by himself; and based on his theory of education, his observation, and the experience of his own house.
Mr. Edgeworth was not a ready writer; and it may have been partly owing to this that he preferred engaging in a sort of literary partnership with his daughter to embarking alone in any work of length. 'Practical Education' and ' Irish Bulls' were avowedly written by them in common ; and Miss E. in her father's 'Memoirs' (vol. ii., chap. xvi.) has recorded in warm terms of filial affection her obligations to him in her other works. It was his habit to revise and correct all her productions carefully, and to sanction their issue to the world by his paternal imprimatur; a form which the world thought might as well be omitted.
The following works are published in his name :—'Rational Primer : " Poetry Explained ; "Readings in Poetry ;"Professional Education ;" Letter to Lord Charlemont on the Telegraph ; ' 'Speeches in Parliament ;' Essay on the Construction of Roads and Carriages.' Ho also published papers in the Philosophical Transac tions, Nicholson's Journal, and the transactions of the Royal Irish Academy on various subjects, as the Telegraph, Resistance of the Air, Aereatation, Railroads, the Construction of Carriages, and the description of a handsome spire which ho had caused to be erected inside the steeple of the parish church, and then lifted into its place.
(Memoirs of B. L. Edgeworth, 1820.)