Sir Harbottle Grimston, 1st Baronet

Sir Harbottle Grimston, 1st Baronet (1578 – 1648) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1614 and 1648. He supported the Parliamentarian side in the English Civil War.

Background He was the son of Edward Grimston (d. 1610) of Rishangles, Suffolk, a master in Chancery and his wife Joan (d. 1604), daughter and heiress of Thomas Risby of Lavenham, Suffolk. He was the grandson of Edward Grimston, comptroller of Calais in the reign of Mary I. His father's landed estate was significantly expanded through his marriage. By 1600 Grimston married Elizabeth (d. 1649), daughter of Ralph Coppinger of Stoke and Allhallows, Kent. Grimston's younger brother Henry married Elizabeth's sister Frances (d. 1608). Following the death of his wife's childless brother Ambrose in 1621, he became embroiled in a legal dispute with Elizabeth's stepmother over her claim to Ambrose's interest in their father's estate. He was elected Member of Parliament for the nearby borough of Harwich in 1614, possibly because of a movement to abolish baronetcies. Following the parliament his association with Warwick led to him being excluded from the deputy lieutenancy and his subsequent opposition to the "forced loan" demanded by the king led to his imprisonment. He was released on the grounds of ill health, but excluded from the bench.