Constituency Dates
Harwich 1621
Family and Education
b. 21 Aug. 1600,1Add. 19090, f. 161. 1st s. of Sir Harbottle Grimston* 1st bt. of Bradfield and Elizabeth, da. of Ralph Copinger of Stoke, Kent;2 Vis. Essex (Harl. Soc. xiii), 207. bro. of Harbottle*. educ. Clare, Camb. 1616, Emmanuel 1617, BA 1618/19; G. Inn 1619.3 Al. Cant.; GI Admiss. m. ?bef. 28 June 1620 (?with £1,820),4 Essex RO, D/DH VI.B.43. Magdalen, da. of Thomas Marsham of Milk St. London, Merchant Taylor, 1s. 1da.5 HALS, Verulam ms IX.A.217; PROB 11/145, ff. 219-20; Vis. Essex (Harl. Soc. xiii), 411, (but cf. p. 207, where Grimston’s wife is incorrectly termed Elizabeth). bur. 28 Apr. 1624 28 Apr. 1624.6 Essex RO, microfiche D/P 173/1/1.
Address
Main residence: Bradfield Hall, Essex.
biography text

Grimston has been identified as the fourth son of the Elizabethan Member for Ipswich, Eye and Orford,7 J.E. Cussans, Hist. Herts.: Hundred of Cashio, 247. Cussans adds that the Member for Harwich was a sjt.-at-law, but there was no such serjeant of this name: Order of Sjts.-at-Law ed. J.H. Baker (Selden Soc. suppl. ser. v). but he was undoubtedly the eldest son of Sir Harbottle Grimston, who lived about three miles from Harwich. He should not be confused with his great-uncle Edward Grimston, serjeant-at-arms to the Commons from 1610.8 For this man, see G.N. Clark, ‘Edward Grimeston, the Translator’, EHR, xliii. 586-7.

The eldest son of a staunch Calvinist, Grimston initially studied at Clare College, Cambridge, but transferred to Emmanuel within a few months. After attaining his degree, he entered Gray’s Inn and married the 19-year-old daughter of a leading Merchant Taylor.9 C.M. Clode, Early Hist. of Merchant Taylors’ Co. 345. Presumably on Sir Harbottle’s interest he was returned to Parliament for Harwich in December 1620 after Sir Charles Montagu, who had represented the constituency in 1614, withdrew his candidacy in preference for the seat at Higham Ferrers.10 Harwich bor. recs. ms 98/3, f. 37. Montagu’s name has been deleted and Grimston’s inserted in its place. Grimston made no discernible impact on the Commons’ proceedings. In June 1621, probably during his father’s absence abroad, he was appointed administrator of his younger brother William’s estate (d.1618).11 PCC Admons. 1620-30 ed. J.H. Morrison, 47. He died intestate at the family seat of Bradfield Hall in April 1624. His widow remarried three years later following the death of both their children.12 Bp. of London Mar. Lics. 1611-28 ed. G.J. Armytage (Harl. Soc. xxvi), 189; St. Mary Magdalen, Milk Street (Harl. Soc. Reg. lxxii), 48.

Author
A.D.T.
Volume
Commons 1604-1629
Notes
  • 1. Add. 19090, f. 161.
  • 2. Vis. Essex (Harl. Soc. xiii), 207.
  • 3. Al. Cant.; GI Admiss.
  • 4. Essex RO, D/DH VI.B.43.
  • 5. HALS, Verulam ms IX.A.217; PROB 11/145, ff. 219-20; Vis. Essex (Harl. Soc. xiii), 411, (but cf. p. 207, where Grimston’s wife is incorrectly termed Elizabeth).
  • 6. Essex RO, microfiche D/P 173/1/1.
  • 7. J.E. Cussans, Hist. Herts.: Hundred of Cashio, 247. Cussans adds that the Member for Harwich was a sjt.-at-law, but there was no such serjeant of this name: Order of Sjts.-at-Law ed. J.H. Baker (Selden Soc. suppl. ser. v).
  • 8. For this man, see G.N. Clark, ‘Edward Grimeston, the Translator’, EHR, xliii. 586-7.
  • 9. C.M. Clode, Early Hist. of Merchant Taylors’ Co. 345.
  • 10. Harwich bor. recs. ms 98/3, f. 37. Montagu’s name has been deleted and Grimston’s inserted in its place.
  • 11. PCC Admons. 1620-30 ed. J.H. Morrison, 47.
  • 12. Bp. of London Mar. Lics. 1611-28 ed. G.J. Armytage (Harl. Soc. xxvi), 189; St. Mary Magdalen, Milk Street (Harl. Soc. Reg. lxxii), 48.