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

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1715-1754, ed. R. Sedgwick, 1970
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

1713 - 1715
1722 - 1727
1734 - 1741

Family and Education

b. 1676, o. surv. s. of Richard Lockwood of Gayton, Northants., sheriff of Northants. 1695, by Susanna, da. and h. of Edward Cutts of Maldon, Essex. educ. ?Westminster 1684. m. Matilda, da. of George Vernon of Sudbury, Derbys., sis. of Henry Vernon, M.P., 5s. suc. fa. 1696 or 1697.

Offices Held

Assistant, R. African Co. 1720-5; director, R. Exchange Assurance 1720, dep. gov. 1732.

Biography

Lockwood, a wealthy Turkey merchant,1 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.2 Returned at the head of the poll, he was classed by the Pretender’s agent in London as a Jacobite supporter.3 In 1725 he received the thanks of common council for his ‘pains and applications’ in opposing the city of London elections bill.4 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’.5 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 17366 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.7

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

Ref Volumes: 1715-1754

Author: Eveline Cruickshanks

Notes

  • 1. Chandos to Mrs. Luttrell, 23 Jan. 1722, Chandos letter bks.
  • 2. Chandos to Mrs. Luttrell, 23 Jan., 18 Feb. 1722, to Lockwood, 12 Jan. 1722, Chandos letter bks.
  • 3. Stuart mss 60/144.
  • 4. Jnl. vol. 57; see LONDON.
  • 5. 22 Oct. 1725, Wood to Humphry Morice, Morice mss.
  • 6. HMC Egmont Diary, ii. 257.
  • 7. VCH Essex, iv. 80.