GRANTHAM, Richard (d.1723), of Goltho Hall, Lincs.

Grantham, whose family had been seated at Goltho since the 16th century, was returned as a Whig on his own interest for Lincoln in 1715. Heading the ballot of the House of Commons on the appointment of commissioners for the sale of estates forfeited in the late rebellion, at salaries of £1,000 a year, he voted with the Government in every recorded division. In 1719 the Treasury were informed by his colleagues that he and another commissioner, Sir Richard Steele, had been absent from duty for two years, which had been ‘a great hindrance to the business of the commission and a considerable detriment to the country’. Next year he was similarly reported to the Treasury as having on two occasions been absent for over three weeks without permission, thereby incurring a penalty of £500, which was to be stopped out of his salary.Cal. Treas. Pprs. 1714-19, p. 475; 1720-8, p. 23. An undated list of payments in the Sunderland papers contains the entry: à my Lord Chancellor pour Mons. Grantham £400.’Sunderland (Blenheim) mss. D.II, 4. Defeated at Lincoln in 1722, he died 28 Jan. 1723.