gallery
A Portrait Gallery
Sir Nathaniel Rich
c1585 - 1636
Nathaniel Rich is considered by some the patron saint of Bermuda. He was a lwyer, politician and businessman. Born 1585 to the illegitimate
brother of the 1st Earl of Warwick, he was a cousin to Robert Rich, who became the 2nd Earl, and older brother of Robert who was the family representative in Bermuda.
He was knighted in 1617, trained as a lawyer and devoted to political life as a member of Parliament and England's colonial expansion. He was
one of the largest shareholders in the Bermuda Company, prominent in the Virginia Company, and a leader of the Warwick/Smith groups in both organizations.
He was a prime mover in the discovery and Puritan settlement of Providence Island off Nicaragua and became governor of that company for the year before his death in 1636.
Having no children, he left most of his property to nephews and nieces. His twelve shares in Southampton were left in part to two nieces and the remainder for the formation of
a free school to teach Indian children brought from Virginia and New England.