LOCKWOOD, Richard (1676-1756), of College Hill, London, and Dews Hall, nr. Maldon, Essex.

Lockwood, a wealthy Turkey merchant,Chandos to Mrs. Luttrell, 23 Jan. 1722, Chandos letter bks. sat as a Tory in Anne’s last Parliament, but lost his seat at Hindon in 1715, when he also stood unsuccessfully for Worcester. In 1722 he stood for London, as a second string getting the Duke of Chandos, with whom he was associated on the board of the African Company and to whom he also acted as banker, to recommend him to Mrs. Luttrell for a seat at Minehead. Mrs. Luttrell was willing but the arrangement fell through because Lockwood found that his campaign in London would not permit him to appear in person at Minehead, as was considered desirable.Chandos to Mrs. Luttrell, 23 Jan., 18 Feb. 1722, to Lockwood, 12 Jan. 1722, Chandos letter bks. Returned at the head of the poll, he was classed by the Pretender’s agent in London as a Jacobite supporter.Stuart mss 60/144. In 1725 he received the thanks of common council for his ‘pains and applications’ in opposing the city of London elections bill.Jnl. vol. 57; see LONDON. Before the next session, when the affairs of the African Company were about to come before Parliament, he and other M.P.s connected with it divested themselves of their stock, ‘so that when the dispute comes before the House they may stand clear of being impeached as interested persons or speaking with a design to promote their own private fortunes’.22 Oct. 1725, Wood to Humphry Morice, Morice mss. In 1727 he lost his London seat. Returned for Worcester after a contest in 1734, he voted against the Government on the Spanish convention in 1739 and the place bill in 1740, speaking on the gin bill in 1736HMC Egmont Diary, ii. 257. and against a bill to regulate and check frauds in marine insurance, 27 Mar. 1740. In 1735 he bought the estate of Dews Hall in Essex, making considerable additions to the house.VCH Essex, iv. 80.

He did not seek re-election, dying 30 Aug. 1756, aged 80.