Richard Francis Talbot

'''Richard Francis Talbot''' (December 1710 – 12 March 1752) was a French soldier and diplomat of Irish descent.<ref name=CCC>{{cite web |url=https://www.dib.ie/biography/talbot-richard-francis-a8454 |title=Talbot, Richard Francis |last=Serge Rivière |first=Marc |date=October 2009 |website=Dictionary of Irish Biography |access-date=16 February 2023 }}</ref>

Talbot was born in France to Irish exiles, the son of Richard Talbot (son of [[William Talbot (died 1724)|William Talbot]]) and Charlotte Talbot (daughter of [[Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell]]). Talbot's paternal grandfather had assumed the title of Talbot's maternal grandfather in 1691, and in 1724 Talbot became the titular [[Earl of Tyrconnell]] in [[Jacobitism|Jacobite]] circles.<ref name=CCC/>

In 1721 he joined Fitzjames' Horse, a regiment in the [[Irish Brigade (France)|Irish Brigade]] of the [[French Royal Army]]. He was promoted to captain in 1729 and served under [[James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick]] in the [[War of the Polish Succession]]. He later served in Bavaria, Upper Alsace and Lower Rhine. Talbot was captured by British forces in a ship off the coast of [[Ostend]] while attempting to sail to join the [[Jacobite Rising of 1745]], but was later released in a prisoner exchange. He was appointed [[Maréchal de camp]] in April 1748 during the [[Siege of Maastricht (1748)|Siege of Maastricht]] and was honoured as a chevalier of the [[Order of Saint Louis]].<ref name=CCC/>

After the [[Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748)|Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle]], Talbot was named by [[Louis XV]] as his ambassador to the [[Kingdom of Prussia]], arriving in [[Berlin]] in March 1750. From September 1751 his health declined rapidly and he died in Berlin in March 1752.<ref name=CCC/>

He was described by [[Thomas Carlyle]] as "a Jacobite Irishman, of blusterous qualities, though with plenty of sagacity and rough sense".<ref name=CCC/>

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Talbot, Richard Francis}} [[Category:1710 births]] [[Category:1752 deaths]] [[Category:18th-century Irish people]] [[Category:Ambassadors of France to Prussia]] [[Category:Earls in the Jacobite peerage]] [[Category:French military personnel of the War of the Austrian Succession]] [[Category:French military personnel of the War of the Polish Succession]] [[Category:Irish expatriates in France]] [[Category:Irish Jacobites]] [[Category:Irish soldiers in the French Army]] [[Category:Jacobite military personnel of the Jacobite rising of 1745]] [[Category:Knights of the Order of Saint Louis]] [[Category:Talbot family|Richard Francis]]