Richard Evelyn Byrd Sr. (August 13, 1860 – October 23, 1925) was a Virginia lawyer, politician and newspaperman.

He was the first son born to Jennie (Rivers) and her husband William Byrd, who had become an adjutant general of the state of Texas, and born in Austin, Travis County, Texas, months after the American Civil War had begun.

His great-great grandfather William Byrd had served in the British army during the American Revolutionary War, then moved to northwestern Virginia.

He represented Winchester in the Virginia House of Delegates, and served as that body's Speaker from 1908 until 1914.

One of his sons, Richard, became famous as a naval aviator who led an expedition to the South Pole; another, Harry, would serve as Governor of Virginia and in the United States Senate.