Rees Howell Gronow

Rees Howell Gronow (1794 – 22 November 1865), "Captain Gronow", was a Welsh Grenadier Guards officer, an unsuccessful parliamentarian, a dandy and a writer of celebrated reminiscences.

Origins and education

He was the eldest son of William Gronow of Court Herbert,

.

Army career

On 24 December 1812 he received a

Debtors' Prison

under the Insolvent Debtors Act.

Parliamentary career

At the

F. L. Holyoake Goodricke

, and did not seek election again.

Literary career

For many years after this he resided in London, mixing in the best society. In later years he took up his residence in Paris, where he was present during the

coup d'état

of 1–2 December 1851. His name is chiefly remembered in connection with his four volumes of reminiscences:

• Reminiscences of Captain Gronow, formerly of the Grenadier Guards and M.P. for Stafford, being Anecdotes of the Camp, the Court, and the Clubs, at the close of the last War with France, related by himself, 1862;
• Recollections and Anecdotes, being a Second Series of Reminiscences, by Captain R. H. Gronow, 1863;
• Celebrities of London and Paris, being a Third Series of Reminiscences and Anecdotes, 1865;
• Captain Gronow's Last Recollections, being the Fourth and Final Series of his Reminiscences and Anecdotes, 1866.

In 1888 appeared The Reminiscences and Recollections of Capt. Gronow. With illustrations from contemporary sources ... by J. Grego. When he relates his personal experiences, as in his account of the state of Paris in 1815, the condition of society in London in his own time, and the doings of the court of

, his testimony is to be relied on, but his second-hand stories and anecdotes of persons whom he did not know are of lesser value. Whether reliable or not, his narrative is invariably lively and entertaining.

Personal characteristics

He was a remarkably handsome man, always faultlessly dressed, and was very popular in society. His portrait appeared in shop windows with those of

References

Attribution

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Gronow, Rees Howell". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.

Further reading

• Hibbert, Christopher (ed.), Captain Gronow: His Reminiscences of Regency and Victorian Life, 1810-60 (Kyle Cathie, 1991)
• Raymond, John (ed.), The Reminiscences and Recollections of Captain Gronow: Being Anecdotes of the Camp, Court and Society 1810-1860 (The Bodley Head, 1964)

External links

• Works by Rees Howell Gronow at Project Gutenberg
• Works by or about Rees Howell Gronow at Internet Archive
• Works by Rees Howell Gronow at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Rees Howell Gronow