# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Jodrell, Richard Paul

​JODRELL, RICHARD PAUL (1745–1831), classical scholar and dramatist, born on 13 Nov. 1745, was elder brother of Sir Paul Jodrell, M.D. [q. v.] After passing through Eton College with much distinction, he matriculated at Oxford from Hertford College on 28 June 1764, and was called to the bar from Lincoln's Inn in 1771 (Foster, Alumni Oxon. 1715–1886, ii. 754). He cultivated the friendship of Dr. Johnson, and in December 1783 became a member of the Essex Head Club, of which, it is believed, he was the last survivor (Boswell, Life of Johnson, ed. G. B. Hill, iv. 254, 272). At the general election of 1790 he was returned in the tory interest as M.P. for Seaford, Sussex, but was declared not duly elected on 19 March 1792. He was, however, re-elected for the same borough in January 1794, and continued to represent it until the dissolution in 1796. On 4 July 1793, when residing at his seat at Lewknor, Oxfordshire, he was created D.C.L. of Oxford. During the last ten years of his life he suffered from mental disease. He died in Portland Place, London, on 26 Jan. 1831. He was elected F.R.S. in 1772, and F.S.A. in 1784. His portrait by M. Brown was engraved by C. Heath for private circulation (Evans, Cat. of Engraved Portraits, ii. 224). By his marriage, on 19 May 1772, to his second cousin, Vertue (d. 1806), eldest daughter and coheiress of Edward Hase of Sall, Norfolk, he had five sons and two daughters.
Some of Jodrell's verses are in the ‘Musæ Etonenses.’ He was a contributor to the supplementary notes of Potter's ‘Æschylus,’ printed in 1778; in 1781 he published ‘Illustrations of Euripides, on the Ion and Bacchæ,’ 2 pts., 8vo; and in 1789 another volume on the ‘Alcestis.’ In Joseph Cradock's ‘Memoirs’ (vol. iv.) appear four letters of Jodrell relating to the copy of Euripides, formerly belonging to Milton, but then in Cradock's possession. He also wrote an elaborate treatise on the ‘Philology of the English Language,’ 4to, London, 1820. His ‘A Widow and no Widow, a dramatic piece of ​three acts,' in which living characters were depicted under fictitious names, was acted at the Haymarket on 17 July 1779, and printed in 1780 (cf. Genest, Hist. of the Stage, vi. 110). At the same theatre, on 22 Aug. 1783, was performed with success his laughable 'Seeing is Believing, a dramatic proverb,' in one act, printed in 1786 (ib. vi. 284). His tragedy, called 'The Persian Heroine,' founded on Herodotus (last book, cc. 107 seq.), having been rejected by the managers of Drury Lane and Covent Garden (cf. Nichols, Lit. Anecd. ix. 2), was printed in 1786, 8vo and 4to; 3rd edit. 1822. An Italian translation, by G. Caravita, appeared in 1821, 4to, London. It was acted at Drury Lane for H. Johnston's benefit on 2 June 1819, under the patronage of the Persian ambassador (Genest, viii. 691-2). Jodrell also published 'Illustrations of "The Persian Heroine," … adapted to the third edition,' 4to, London, 1822. In 1787 Jodrell issued anonymously 'Select Dramatic Pieces,' produced privately or at provincial theatres, and consisting of 'Who's Afraid?' a musical farce; 'The Boarding School Miss,' a comedy; 'One and All,' a farce (printed separately in the same year); 'The Disguise,' a comedy; 'The Musico,' a farce; and 'The Bulse,' a dramatic interlude. He also published in 1785 'The Knight and Friars: an historick tale,' in verse, from Heywood's 'Γυναικειον,' 'the work of three mornings in the Christmas holidays.' A collective edition of his 'Poetical Works' appeared in handsome quarto in 1814.
His eldest son, Sir Richard Paul Jodrell (1781-1861), born in 1781, was educated at Eton and Magdalen College, Oxford (B.A. 1804, M.A. 1806), and was called to the bar from Lincoln's Inn in 1803. He succeeded his maternal grand-uncle, Sir John Lombe (formerly Hase), as a baronet at Lombe's death on 27 May 1817. He died on 14 Jan. 1861, leaving issue by his marriage, on 12 Dec. 1814, to Amelia Caroline King (d. 1860), natural daughter of Robert, second earl of Kingston (Gent. Mag. 3rd ser. x. 234; Burke, Peerage, 1891, p. 762). He was author of: 1. 'Carmina Selecta,' 8vo, London, 1810, a privately printed selection from his Greek and Latin verses written at Eton. 2. 'Epigram' affixed to 'Lines written extempore at the Plain of Waterloo,' 4to, Dover, 1840. 3. 'Dover, Ancient and Modern, a Poem, with an episode, views, and notes,' 8vo, Dover, 1841.
[Gent. Mag. lx. 547, ci. pt. i. 271-3; Nichols's Lit. Anecd. viii. 77, 102, 155, ix. 2-3, 68, 724; Baker's Biog. Dram. (1812); Brit. Mus. Cat.]
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