Pococke, Richard

Pococke, Richard an English prelate, was born in 1704 at Southampton. It is believed that he belonged to the family of the preceding, notwithstanding the slight difference in the spelling of his name. He studied at Oxford, was received doctor, and embraced the ecclesiastical career. In 1734 and 1741 he traveled in the East, and published on his return a narrative of his journey, under the title, A Description of the East and some other Countries (Lond. 1743-45, 3 vols. in 2. folio, with 179 drawings and maps). This work most filly and with care delineates the countries and manners which make its reading interesting even now. Having accompanied lord Chesterfield to Ireland as chaplain, he remained in that country, and was appointed in 1756 bishop of Ossory. He had just been transferred to Meath when he died of apoplexy, in September 1765, There are some notices of him in the Philosophical Transactions and in the Archaeologia. (J. H.W.)