Richard Bigham, 4th Viscount Mersey

Richard Maurice Clive Bigham, 4th Viscount Mersey, (8 July 1934 – 5 August 2006) was a British peer, Conservative politician, and convicted child sexual abuser.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]

Background

Richard Bigham was the eldest son of the 3rd Viscount Mersey, Edward Clive Bigham, and the 12th Lady Nairne, Katherine Evelyn Constance Petty-Fitzmaurice Bigham.[5] Bigham attended secondary school at Eton College and studied at Balliol College, Oxford. On 6 May 1961, Richard Bigham married Joanna Dorothy Corsica Grey Murray, daughter of John Arnaud Robin Grey Murray, descendants of the noted publisher John Murray.[9][10] Bigham and his family lived at Bignor Park and in Notting Hill.[11]

Career

Bigham was a lieutenant in the Irish Guards from 1952 to 1954. He later became a documentary film maker and was president of a number of organisations.[11] He wrote two books: The Hills of Cork and Kerry (1987) and Pole Power (2001).[12][13]

Politics

Bigham became the 4th Baron Mersey and the 4th Viscount Mersey upon the death of his father on 2 August 1979. He succeeded to the Lordship of Nairne upon the death of his mother on 20 October 1995. He became a Conservative Party peer on 11 November 1980 and remained in the House of Lords until 11 November 1999, when his hereditary seat was abolished with the enactment of the House of Lords Act 1999.[14][5][6][7]

Child sexual abuse conviction

In 2025, Bigham was featured on an episode of the BBC Radio crime documentary In Dark Corners. The piece discussed his criminal conviction for sexual offences against two children aged 6 and 10.[4] He was given a 12-month jail sentence, suspended for 2 years. His crimes were also mentioned by Alex Renton in a 2025 article in The Times on the pro-paedophilia group Paedophile Information Exchange (PIE). Bigham was a member of PIE. In spite of Bigham's crimes, he was able to join the House of Lords and become a member of the Conservative party.[3][15][16][17][8]

Death

Bigham died on 5 August 2006, at the age of 72.[5] He is buried at Holy Cross Churchyard in Bignor, West Sussex.

References

  1. ^ "Peerages: Person - Richard Maurice Clive Bigham". peerages.historyofparliamentonline.org.
  2. ^ Archives, The National. "The Discovery Service". discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk.
  3. ^ a b Renton, Alex (8 January 2025). "My shock when I learnt my old Eton master's set included paedophiles". www.thetimes.com.
  4. ^ a b "BBC Radio 4 - In Dark Corners, Series 2, 3. The Dirty Squad". BBC.
  5. ^ a b c d "Mersey, Viscount (UK, 1916)". www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk.
  6. ^ a b Debrett’s Peerage and Baronetage, ed. Charles Kidd and David Williamson, 1990 ed. (London: Debrett’s Peerage Ltd, 1990), pp. 865–866.
  7. ^ a b Burke’s Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 106th ed., ed. Charles Mosley (Crans, Switzerland: Burke’s Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd., 1999), vol. 2, pp. 1952–1953.
  8. ^ a b Goldsmith, Stanley. "Child Vice Agent Gets Six Years." Daily Telegraph, 27 July 1978, p. 2. The Telegraph Historical Archive, link.gale.com/apps/doc/IO0703741847/TGRH?u=oxford&sid=bookmark-TGRH&pg=2&xid=7f763fa4.
  9. ^ Sansom, Ian (30 April 2010). "Great dynasties of the world: The Murrays" – via The Guardian.
  10. ^ "Forthcoming Marriages." Daily Telegraph, 15 Feb. 1961, p. 14. The Telegraph Historical Archive, link.gale.com/apps/doc/IO0702653667/TGRH?u=oxford&sid=bookmark-TGRH&pg=14&xid=405fcfc7.
  11. ^ a b Our Crime Staff. "Viscount is Robbed at Knifepoint." Daily Telegraph, 7 Jan. 1986, p. 2. The Telegraph Historical Archive, link.gale.com/apps/doc/IO0702779411/TGRH?u=oxford&sid=bookmark-TGRH&pg=2&xid=6b215472.
  12. ^ Mersey, Richard (16 August 1987). The Hills of Cork & Kerry. Alan Sutton. ISBN 978-0-86299-267-5 – via Google Books.
  13. ^ Mersey, Richard (2001). Pole Power: Changing the Face of Poland's Energy for the European Union. Talleyrand. ISBN 978-1-902320-23-6.
  14. ^ "Parliamentary career for Viscount Mersey - MPs and Lords - UK Parliament". members.parliament.uk.
  15. ^ "The Glasgow Herald - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com.
  16. ^ Dunsford, John. "Viscount's son ‘paid £70 for child sex’." Daily Telegraph, 20 July 1978, p. 5. The Telegraph Historical Archive, link.gale.com/apps/doc/IO0704165246/TGRH?u=oxford&sid=bookmark-TGRH&pg=5&xid=58428dab.
  17. ^ "Vice trial told of ‘old harlot’ and fetishists." Daily Telegraph, 21 July 1978, p. 6. The Telegraph Historical Archive, link.gale.com/apps/doc/IO0703851591/TGRH?u=oxford&sid=bookmark-TGRH&pg=6&xid=be14cac0.
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