Sir Richard Grosvenor, 4th Baronet

Sir Richard Grosvenor, 4th Baronet of Eaton

Sir Richard Grosvenor, 4th Baronet (1689 – July 1732) was an English Member of Parliament and an ancestor of the modern day Dukes of Westminster.

Richard Grosvenor was the eldest surviving son of Sir Thomas Grosvenor, 3rd Baronet. His two older brothers, Thomas and Roger, pre-deceased their father.^[1] At the time of his father's death in 1700 he was still being educated at Eton College, and was under the guardianship of Sir Richard Myddelton, 3rd Baronet, and Thomas and Francis Cholmondeley. After leaving Eton, he went on the Grand Tour, visiting Switzerland, Bavaria, Italy and the Netherlands. In 1707 he returned to the family home at Eaton Hall, Cheshire.

Political career

In 1715 Grosvenor was returned as Member of Parliament for Chester and in the following year he was elected as mayor of the city. Around this time he was suspected of being a Jacobite supporter, although in 1727 he participated in the coronation of George II. In that year, Grosvenor and his brother Thomas, won both of the parliamentary seats for Chester.^[2] During the time that Grosvenor was baronet, the estates in London were being developed. Also during this time there is evidence of the first association of the Grosvenor family with horse racing, when Grosvenor's horses ran at Chester and Newmarket in 1720. He died in July 1732 and was succeeded by his younger brother, Thomas.^[2]

Family

In 1708 he married Jane, the daughter of Sir Edward Wyndham of Orchard Wyndham, Somerset. The couple had one daughter, Catherine, who died in 1718. During the following year, Jane Grosvenor died and Grosvenor then married Diana, the only daughter of Sir George Warburton of Arley. They had no children.^[2]

Styles of address

• 1689-1700: Mr Richard Grosvenor
• 1700-1715: Sir Richard Grosvenor Bt
• 1715-1732: Sir Richard Grosvenor Bt MP

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  Coat of arms of the Grosvenor Baronets, of Eaton (1622)

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  St Mary's Church, Eccleston - The enclosure which marks the site of the Grosvenor family vault within the demolished old church

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  St Mary's Church, Eccleston - The tablet in the enclosure marking the site of the Grosvenor family vault within the old church

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  St Mary's Church, Eccleston - The tablet in the new church which lists the Grosvenors buried in the demolished old church

References

1. Handley, Stuart (2004) (online edition 2008) 'Grosvenor, Sir Thomas, third baronet (1655–1700)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Retrieved on 8 April 2010. (subscription or UK public library membership required)
2. Newton, Diana; Lumby, Jonathan, The Grosvenors of Eaton, Eccleston, Cheshire: Jennet Publications, pp. 11–15, ISBN 0-9543379-0-5