Matthew Robinson, 2nd Baron Rokeby

Matthew Robinson, 2nd Baron Rokeby (Baptised, York 12 April 1713 – 30 November 1800), FRS, was an English landowner, politician and nobleman.

Of his six brothers, Thomas the second was known as a legal writer, William the fifth as a cleric, and the youngest, Charles, as a Member of Parliament.

[6] Robinson-Morris represented Canterbury in Parliament, from 1747 to 1761[3] including managing to hold the constituency without expense in 1754;[7] in politics he was a Whig.

The 2nd Lord Rokeby became an enthusiastic supporter of baths during a holiday in the spa town of Aix-la-Chapelle.

When he returned to Kent, he began to make daily trips to the seashore to swim in salt water regardless of the weather.

In a couple of years, he decided to build a swimming pool in his mansion - it was built under glass and was heated by the sun.

As for church service, he claimed that God was best worshipped at natural altars of the earth, the sea and the sky - not to mention that the sermons were boring.

When he stayed at the Chequers Inn at Lenham in 1796 so he could vote in the general election, curious locals took him for a Turk.

In January 1755 Mrs. Montagu wrote to their sister, Sarah Scott: 'Brother Robinson is emulating the great Diogenes and other ... doctors of the stoic fur; he flies the life of London and leads a life of such privacy and seriousness as looks to the beholder like wisdom', and in 1756 she reported that he now lived upon almost raw meat, never touched bread, considering corn exotic, and for the same reason substituted honey for sugar.