Sir Nathaniel Rich (1585 – 1636) was an English merchant adventurer and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1614 and 1629.
[6] He had a legal training, and was admitted a member of Gray's Inn on 2 February 1609/10,[7] as of Ash, Essex.
[1] Rich was re-elected MP for Harwich in 1626 and 1628 and sat until 1629 when King Charles decided to rule without parliament for eleven years.
[8] In 1629, with the Earl of Warwick and others, he found the funds for the first voyage of discovery to Providence Island, off the north-east of Yucatan.
On 4 December 1630 they received the patent forming the governor and company of adventurers for the plantation of Providence and Henrietta.
He appears to have pursued a forward policy, for in 1635 he advocated the admission of all the adventurers to the benefits of the trade of the main.