Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Delamaine, Richard (fl.1654)
DELAMAINE, RICHARD, the younger (fl. 1654), mathematician, perhaps eldest son of Richard Delamaine the elder [q. v.], seems to have held some position in the customs (‘sate at the receipt of customs,’ Impostor Magnus, 1654), and in 1641 published a folio sheet dedicated to the House of Peers containing ‘A Table shewing instantly by the eye the number of Acres belonging to any summe of money, according to the rate settled by Parliament upon any of the lands within the Foure Provinces of Ireland,’ &c. He took the side of the parliament in the great constitutional struggle, and in 1648 was an active preacher in the county of Hereford and a trooper and paymaster of the militia. He seems to have combined these offices successfully for a while, occupying the pulpit in Hereford Cathedral and taking a prominent part in the defence of the city. In 1654 he was superseded (State Papers, Dom. Ser. 27 June), and whatever could be said to his discredit was collected by an anonymous writer and published under the title ‘Impostor Magnus: the legerdemain of Richard Delamaine, now Preacher in the city of Hereford. Being a narrative of his life and doctrine since his first coming into that country,’ 1654, 4to.
[Biographical particulars in Impostor Magnus.]