A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Grantham, Charles (a)
GRANTHAM. (Lieut., 1809. f-p., 8; h-p., 36.)
Charles Grantham (a), born 4 Dec. 1790, is son of the late Thos. Bennett Grantham, Esq., Captain in the 15th Regt., by Margaret, daughter of Capt. Arthur Webber, R.N. He is brother of Capt. Thos. Grantham, of the Royal Artillery, and of Arthur Grantham, Esq., of the R.N.
This officer entered the Navy, 20 Feb. 1803, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Alcmène 32, Capts. John Styles, Jas. Brisbane, and Wm. Henry Brown Tremlett; in the boats of which frigate, stationed off the coasts of France and Spain, he appears to have been frequently employed, the greater part of the time as Midshipman, until wrecked off Nantes, while blockading two of the enemy’s frigates, 29 April, 1809. Being confirmed, 23 Oct. following, to a Lieutenancy in the Bulwark 74, Capt. Hon. Chas. Elphinstone Fleeming, he subsequently, while on the books of that ship, served with the flotilla at the siege of Cadiz, and was instrumental to the defence of Fort Matagorda during its siege by the French. In Oct. 1810 he exchanged, at Vera Cruz, into the Helder frigate, Capt. John Serrel, and returned to England. Since March, 1811, in the course of which month he went on half-pay, Lieut. Grantham has been unemployed.