Richard Graham 1648-1695

Richard GRAHAM, 1st Viscount Preston 1648-1695

Biographical Note

Born at Netherby, Cumberland, eldest son of Sir George Graham, 2nd baronet (d.1658). Succeeded his father as 3rd baronet in 1658. Admitted to the Inner Temple and matriculated from Christ Church, Oxford in 1664. MA 1667. MP for Cockermouth, Cumberland 1675, 1678-9, 1679, 1680-81; for Cumberland 1685. Appointed ambassador to the court of France by Charles II in 1682. Returning to England after the accession of James II, he was admitted to the privy council in 1685 and appointed keeper of the great seal to the dowager queen, Catherine of Braganza. Made lord lieutenant of Cumberland and Westmorland in 1687. He was arrested and sent to the Tower in 1689 and again in 1691 for his involvement in Jacobite rebellions. Pardoned following his confessions, he retired to his estates and spent his final years working on his translation of Boethius which was published in 1695 as Of the Consolation of Philosophy.

Books

Library auctioned in London, 9.11.1696, 24.11.1697 (part 1, 1482 lots, part 2, 1142).

Sources

• Alston, R. C. Inventory of sale catalogues 1676-1800. St Philip, 2010.
• History of Parliament.
• Callow, John. "Graham, Richard, first Viscount Preston (1648–1695), politician and Jacobite conspirator." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.