Richard Rich, 1st Baron Rich (1496/7 – 12 June 1567), was
Lord Chancellor during the reign of King
Edward VI of England from 1547 until January 1552. The founder of
Felsted School with its associated alms houses in
Essex in 1564. He was a beneficiary of suppression of the monasteries, and a persecutor and sometimes torturer of those opposed to the officially established church, whether it be Roman Catholic or Church of England.