Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 23.djvu/289



GROSVENOR, RICHARD, second (1795–1869), was the eldest son of Robert, second earl Grosvenor and first marquis of Westminster (1767-1845) [q. v.] He was born on 27 Jan. 1795, and was educated at Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford, where he graduated M.A. in 1818 (, Alumni Oxon. 1888, ii. 573). As Lord Belgrave he entered parliament at the general election in 1818 as member for Chester. He represented the city in 1820, and again from 1826 to 1830. Between 1831 and 1832 he was M.P. for his county, and from 1832 to 1835 sat for South Cheshire. When in the lower house he voted steadily for the liberal party. He patronised the turf, and won the St. Leger with Touchstone in 1834. In 1840-1 he made a yacht voyage in the Mediterranean, of which the Countess Grosvenor published a 'Narrative' (London, 1842, 2 vols. cr. 8vo). He succeeded his father as second marquis on 17 Feb. 1845. He seldom spoke in the House of Lords, and devoted himself chiefly to the improvement of his London property. From 1845 to 1867 he was lord-lieutenant of Cheshire, and acted as lord steward of the; household (1850-2) in Lord Russell's administration. He received the order of the Garter on 6 July 1857. After a short illness he died at Fonthill Gifford, Wiltshire, on Sunday, 31 Oct. 1869, in his seventy-fifth year. A leading article in the 'Times' states that 'he administered his vast estate with a combination of intelligence and generosity not often witnessed, and his life was illustrated with some noble acts.' Of reserved habits and inexpensive tastes, he disliked any kind of ostentation and extravagance. He gave generously to charitable objects, and built and restored many churches and schools, principally in Cheshire. To Chester he presented a large park.

He married, on 16 Sept. 1819, the Lady Elizabeth Mary Leveson-Gower, second daughter of the first Duke of Sutherland, and by her had four sons and nine daughters. He was succeeded by his second son, Hugh Lupus Grosvenor (b. 1825), now Duke of Westminster. His fourth son, Richard, was created Baron Stalbridge in 1886.

[Obituary notices in the Times, 2 Nov. 1869, and the Chester Chronicle, 6 Nov. 1869. See also Doyle's Official Baronage, 1885, iii. 626; Croston's County Families of Lancashire and Cheshire, 1887, p. 338; Ormerod's Cheshire (Helsby), ii. 837; Burke's Peerage, 1890.]  GROSVENOR, ROBERT (d. 1396), knight, defendant in the case of Scrope and Grosvenor, was descended from Gilbert le Grosvenor, nephew of Hugh Lupus, earl of Chester, in the time of William I. Sixth in descent from Gilbert was Sir Ralph Grosvenor of Hulme, Cheshire, who died in or before 1357, leaving his son Robert under age. Robert Grosvenor's guardian was Sir John Daniell of Tabley, who married his ward to his daughter Joan. Grosvenor must at this time have been nearly twenty years of age, for we are told that he was harbinger to Sir James de Audley [q. v.], and present with him at the battle of Poitiers. He afterwards served in Guienne and Normandy, and in 1367 took part in the expedition to Spain, and was present at the battle of Nájara on 3 April, and in 1369 was with Sir James Audley at the capture of La Roche-sur-Yon. Next year he was in the service of the Black Prince at the siege of Limoges. During all these campaigns Grosvenor is stated to have used as his coat of arms, 'azure, a bend or,' and while he was yet a minor his guardian challenged John Carminow, a Cornish squire, who had had a like dispute with Sir Richard Scrope for bearing them. In 1385 Grosvenor was engaged in the expedition against Scotland, and was there challenged by Scrope as to his right to bear his arms. On 17 Aug. a proclamation was made for the trial to be held at Newcastle on 20 Aug., whence it was almost at once adjourned to meet at Whitehall on 20 Oct. Meetings were held at intervals till 16 May 1386, when Thomas, Duke of Gloucester, who presided as constable of England, ordered both parties to appear with their proofs on 21 Jan. 1387, and appointed commissioners to collect evidence. The autumn of the year was occupied with this business, and on the appointed day the court met again, the constable being present in person, and Sir John de Multon being lieutenant for the marshal. A host of witnesses were summoned on either side; for Grosvenor, nearly all the knights and gentlemen of Lancashire and Cheshire, together with some abbots, who testified to the use of the bend or by Grosvenor and by his ancestors. But even now there were constant adjournments, and it was only on 12 May 1389 that the constable gave judgment against Grosvenor, who was condemned with costs; but in consideration of the strong evidence which he had adduced had assigned to him as his arms 'azure, a bend or, with a plain bordure, argent, for difference.' Against this decision Grosvenor at once appealed, especially against the assignment of arms for which he had never petitioned. The summons to the parties in the suit to appear before the king was issued on 15 May (Fœdera, vii. 620), commissioners were appointed to hear the case, and the trial commenced