Richard Grosvenor, 1st Earl Grosvenor
Encyclopedia
Richard Grosvenor, 1st Earl Grosvenor (18 June 1731 – 5 August 1802), known as Sir Richard Grosvenor, 7th Baronet between 1755 and 1761 and as The Lord Grosvenor between 1761 and 1784, was a British peer, racehorse owner and art collector. He was created Baron Grosvenor in 1761 and in 1784 became both Viscount Belgrave and Earl Grosvenor.
, the elder son of Sir Robert Grosvenor, 6th Baronet
. He was educated at Oriel College, Oxford, graduating MA in 1751 and DCL
in 1754. He became Member of Parliament
for Chester in 1754 and continued to represent the city until 1761, when he became Baron Grosvenor and was elevated to the House of Lords
. He was mayor of Chester in 1759 and in 1769 he paid for the building of the Eastgate in the city. Grosvenor extended his estate by the purchase of the village of Belgrave
, and the manor of Eccleston
in 1769. He succeeded as 7th baronet on the death of his father in 1755.
On 19 July 1764 Grosvenor married Henrietta Vernon, daughter of Henry Vernon of Hilton Park
, Staffordshire
; they had four sons. However the marriage was not happy, and Henrietta had an affair with Henry, Duke of Cumberland, the younger brother of George III
. The couple were discovered in flagrante delicto
in 1769, which led to Grosvenor bringing an action against the Duke for "criminal conversation
" (that is, adultery
). He was awarded damages
of £10,000, which together with costs, amounted to an award of £13,000 (£ as of ). But Grosvenor was also known to be guilty of adultery himself, so he could not sue for divorce
. The couple separated and he settled an annual allowance of £1,200 (£ as of ) on his estranged wife, who entered the demi-monde and was a leading member of The New Female Coterie.
, but later he came to support the ideas of William Pitt the elder
. In 1758 he declared himself in favour of the Pitt-Newcastle coalition
and following this he was created Baron Grosvenor in 1761. However when the Tory Earl of Bute
became Prime Minister the following year, Grosvenor changed his allegiance. Then, when Pitt was returned to power in the Chatham Ministry
of 1766–68, Grosvenor returned to support him. During the 1770s he supported North
during the American War of Independence
. He voted against Fox's
India Bill in 1783 and was rewarded by William Pitt the Younger
with title of Earl Grosvenor the following year.
and journalist
William Gifford
. For his art collection he acquired works from Italy, and also bought paintings from Benjamin West
(including his painting of The Death of General Wolfe
), Thomas Gainsborough
, Richard Wilson
and George Stubbs
. In 1788 a collection of literary pieces composed at Eaton was published as The Eaton Chronicle, or The Salt-Box. Grosvenor was appointed as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1777. In order to breed his race horses Grosvenor established studs
at Wallasey
and at Eaton. His horses won the Derby
on three occasions and the Oaks
six times.
in 1802 and was buried in the family vault at St Mary's Church, Eccleston
. His assets amounted to "under £70,000" (£ as of ), but his debts were "over £100,000" (£ as of ). He was succeeded at Eaton Hall by his eldest son Robert
.
Personal life
Richard Grosvenor was born at Eaton Hall, CheshireCheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
, the elder son of Sir Robert Grosvenor, 6th Baronet
Sir Robert Grosvenor, 6th Baronet
Sir Robert Grosvenor, 6th Baronet was an English Member of Parliament and an ancestor of the modern day Dukes of Westminster....
. He was educated at Oriel College, Oxford, graduating MA in 1751 and DCL
Doctor of Civil Law
Doctor of Civil Law is a degree offered by some universities, such as the University of Oxford, instead of the more common Doctor of Laws degrees....
in 1754. He became Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Chester in 1754 and continued to represent the city until 1761, when he became Baron Grosvenor and was elevated to the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
. He was mayor of Chester in 1759 and in 1769 he paid for the building of the Eastgate in the city. Grosvenor extended his estate by the purchase of the village of Belgrave
Belgrave, Cheshire
Belgrave is a historical village at the entrance to Eaton Hall in Cheshire, United Kingdom. Today it basically consists of a few houses and a large thriving Grosvenor Garden Centre. The Centre is situated on the edge of Eaton Park within the Eaton Estate...
, and the manor of Eccleston
Eccleston, Cheshire
Eccleston is a civil parish and village in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, and close to Chester...
in 1769. He succeeded as 7th baronet on the death of his father in 1755.
On 19 July 1764 Grosvenor married Henrietta Vernon, daughter of Henry Vernon of Hilton Park
Hilton Park Hall
Hilton Park Hall is an 18th century mansion house now in use as an Office and Business Centre at Hilton, near Wolverhampton, Staffordshire. It is a Grade I listed building....
, Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
; they had four sons. However the marriage was not happy, and Henrietta had an affair with Henry, Duke of Cumberland, the younger brother of George III
George III of the United Kingdom
George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
. The couple were discovered in flagrante delicto
In flagrante delicto
In flagrante delicto or sometimes simply in flagrante is a legal term used to indicate that a criminal has been caught in the act of committing an offence...
in 1769, which led to Grosvenor bringing an action against the Duke for "criminal conversation
Criminal conversation
Criminal conversation, commonly known as crim. con., is a tort arising from adultery.-History of criminal conversation:It was based upon compensation for the husband's loss of property rights in his wife, the wife being regarded as his chattel. Historically a wife could not sue her husband for...
" (that is, adultery
Adultery
Adultery is sexual infidelity to one's spouse, and is a form of extramarital sex. It originally referred only to sex between a woman who was married and a person other than her spouse. Even in cases of separation from one's spouse, an extramarital affair is still considered adultery.Adultery is...
). He was awarded damages
Damages
In law, damages is an award, typically of money, to be paid to a person as compensation for loss or injury; grammatically, it is a singular noun, not plural.- Compensatory damages :...
of £10,000, which together with costs, amounted to an award of £13,000 (£ as of ). But Grosvenor was also known to be guilty of adultery himself, so he could not sue for divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
. The couple separated and he settled an annual allowance of £1,200 (£ as of ) on his estranged wife, who entered the demi-monde and was a leading member of The New Female Coterie.
Political life
Initially Grosvenor was, like his father, a ToryTory
Toryism is a traditionalist and conservative political philosophy which grew out of the Cavalier faction in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It is a prominent ideology in the politics of the United Kingdom, but also features in parts of The Commonwealth, particularly in Canada...
, but later he came to support the ideas of William Pitt the elder
William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham
William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham PC was a British Whig statesman who led Britain during the Seven Years' War...
. In 1758 he declared himself in favour of the Pitt-Newcastle coalition
Second Newcastle Ministry
The Second Newcastle Ministry was a British government which served between 1757 and 1762, at the height of the Seven Years War. It was headed by the Duke of Newcastle, who was serving in his second term as Prime Minister...
and following this he was created Baron Grosvenor in 1761. However when the Tory Earl of Bute
John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute
John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute KG, PC , styled Lord Mount Stuart before 1723, was a Scottish nobleman who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain under George III, and was arguably the last important favourite in British politics...
became Prime Minister the following year, Grosvenor changed his allegiance. Then, when Pitt was returned to power in the Chatham Ministry
Chatham Ministry
The Chatham Ministry was a British government led by William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham that ruled between 1766 and 1768. Because of Pitt's former prominence before his title, it is sometimes referred to as the Pitt Ministry...
of 1766–68, Grosvenor returned to support him. During the 1770s he supported North
Frederick North, Lord North
Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford, KG, PC , more often known by his courtesy title, Lord North, which he used from 1752 until 1790, was Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1770 to 1782. He led Great Britain through most of the American War of Independence...
during the American War of Independence
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
. He voted against Fox's
Charles James Fox
Charles James Fox PC , styled The Honourable from 1762, was a prominent British Whig statesman whose parliamentary career spanned thirty-eight years of the late 18th and early 19th centuries and who was particularly noted for being the arch-rival of William Pitt the Younger...
India Bill in 1783 and was rewarded by William Pitt the Younger
William Pitt the Younger
William Pitt the Younger was a British politician of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He became the youngest Prime Minister in 1783 at the age of 24 . He left office in 1801, but was Prime Minister again from 1804 until his death in 1806...
with title of Earl Grosvenor the following year.
Personal interests
Otherwise Grosvenor was interested in the acquisition of art and in horse racing. He was also the principal patron of the satiristSatire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
and journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
William Gifford
William Gifford
William Gifford was an English critic, editor and poet, famous as a satirist and controversialist.-Life:Gifford was born in Ashburton, Devonshire to Edward Gifford and Elizabeth Cain. His father, a glazier and house painter, had run away as a youth with vagabond Bampfylde Moore Carew, and he...
. For his art collection he acquired works from Italy, and also bought paintings from Benjamin West
Benjamin West
Benjamin West, RA was an Anglo-American painter of historical scenes around and after the time of the American War of Independence...
(including his painting of The Death of General Wolfe
The Death of General Wolfe
The Death of General Wolfe is a well-known 1770 painting by Anglo-American artist Benjamin West depicting the death of British General James Wolfe during the 1759 Battle of Quebec of the Seven Years' War. It is an oil on canvas of the Enlightenment period...
), Thomas Gainsborough
Thomas Gainsborough
Thomas Gainsborough was an English portrait and landscape painter.-Suffolk:Thomas Gainsborough was born in Sudbury, Suffolk. He was the youngest son of John Gainsborough, a weaver and maker of woolen goods. At the age of thirteen he impressed his father with his penciling skills so that he let...
, Richard Wilson
Richard Wilson (painter)
Richard Wilson was a Welsh landscape painter, and one of the founder members of the Royal Academy in 1768. Wilson has been described as '...the most distinguished painter Wales has ever produced and the first to appreciate the aesthetic possibilities of his country.' He is considered to be the...
and George Stubbs
George Stubbs
George Stubbs was an English painter, best known for his paintings of horses.-Biography:Stubbs was born in Liverpool, the son of a currier and leather merchant. Information on his life up to age thirty-five is sparse, relying almost entirely on notes made by fellow artist Ozias Humphry towards the...
. In 1788 a collection of literary pieces composed at Eaton was published as The Eaton Chronicle, or The Salt-Box. Grosvenor was appointed as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1777. In order to breed his race horses Grosvenor established studs
Stud farm
A stud farm or stud in animal husbandry, is an establishment for selective breeding of livestock. The word "stud" comes from the Old English stod meaning "herd of horses, place where horses are kept for breeding" Historically, documentation of the breedings that occur on a stud farm leads to the...
at Wallasey
Wallasey
Wallasey is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, in Merseyside, England, on the mouth of the River Mersey, at the northeastern corner of the Wirral Peninsula...
and at Eaton. His horses won the Derby
Epsom Derby
The Derby Stakes, popularly known as The Derby, internationally as the Epsom Derby, and under its present sponsor as the Investec Derby, is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies...
on three occasions and the Oaks
Epsom Derby
The Derby Stakes, popularly known as The Derby, internationally as the Epsom Derby, and under its present sponsor as the Investec Derby, is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies...
six times.
Death
Grosvenor died at Earls CourtEarls Court
Earls Court is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. It is an inner-city district centred on Earl's Court Road and surrounding streets, located 3.1 miles west south-west of Charing Cross. It borders the sub-districts of South Kensington to the East, West...
in 1802 and was buried in the family vault at St Mary's Church, Eccleston
St Mary's Church, Eccleston
St Mary's Church, Eccleston, is in the village of Eccleston, Cheshire, England, on the estate of the Duke of Westminster south of Chester. The church is designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building. It is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the...
. His assets amounted to "under £70,000" (£ as of ), but his debts were "over £100,000" (£ as of ). He was succeeded at Eaton Hall by his eldest son Robert
Robert Grosvenor, 1st Marquess of Westminster
Robert Grosvenor, 1st Marquess of Westminster, KG was the son of the 1st Earl Grosvenor, whom he succeeded in 1802 as 2nd Earl Grosvenor. He was created Marquess of Westminster in 1831. He was an English Member of Parliament and an ancestor of the modern day Dukes of Westminster...
.