Thomas Grosvenor (British Army officer)

Thomas Grosvenor
Thomas Grosvenor
	3rd Foot Guards
Commands held	Brigade Commander at the Battle of Copenhagen
Battles/wars	American Revolutionary War; French Revolutionary Wars Flanders Campaign Battle of Raismes; ; Anglo-Russian Invasion of Holland Battle of Alkmaar; ; ; Napoleonic Wars Copenhagen Expedition; Walcheren Expedition; ;

Sir Eyre Coote during the disastrous Walcheren Campaign

.

Military career

Early career

Born the third son of

commissioned into the 1st Foot Guards on 1 October 1779.^[1]

He was in charge of security at the

lieutenant-colonel on 25 April 1793, he took part in the Flanders Campaign including the retreat into Germany in Spring 1795 during the French Revolutionary Wars.^[2]

Grosvenor succeeded his father as Whig Member of Parliament for Chester in 1795.^[3]

He took part in the

brigadier-general while serving under Sir Ralph Abercromby in Holland on 18 November 1800.^[4] In parliament he opposed the bill against bull-baiting introduced in 1802.^[1]

Promoted to

major-general on 29 April 1802, Grosvenor held various brigade commands in Southern England between 1803 and 1805.^[2] He had a keen interest in horse racing and his horse, Briseis, won The Oaks in June 1807.^[1]

The Walcheren campaign

Grosvenor served as a brigade commander at the

Eyre Coote during the disastrous Walcheren Campaign which ended in failure when many of the British troops died of malaria.^[2]

In January 1810, he spoke in Parliament in support of Lord Porchester's demands for an inquiry into the disastrous expedition that had taken place the previous year and with which Grosvenor had been so closely associated.^[6]

Later career

Grosvenor was promoted to full

River Dee.^[8] Around the same time he started renting the Warren House in Loughton, probably as it was on the way to Newmarket Racecourse.^[9]^[10] He stood down as Member of Parliament for Chester in 1826 to make way for his cousin's son, Robert Grosvenor, and instead became Member of Parliament for Stockbridge.^[1] In June 1825 another of Thomas Grosvenor's horses, Wings, won the Epsom Oakes.^[1] He retired from parliament in 1830.^[2]

Grosvenor also served as honorary colonel of the

97th Regiment of Foot in 1807 and then as honorary colonel of the 65th Regiment of Foot from 1814 to his death.^[2] He was promoted to field marshal on 9 November 1846^[11] and died at his home, Mount Ararat at Richmond Hill on 20 June 1851.^[2]

Family

In 1797 Grosvenor married Elizabeth Heathcote (daughter of Sir Gilbert Heathcote, 3rd Baronet); after the death of his first wife he married Anne Wilbraham (daughter of George Wilbraham MP) in 1831.^[2] There were no children from either marriage.^[1]

References

^
doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/11675. Retrieved 23 February 2014. (Subscription or UK public library membership
required.)

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Heathcote, p. 154
^ "No. 13768". The London Gazette. 7 April 1795. p. 321.
^ "No. 15311". The London Gazette. 15 November 1800. p. 1294.
^ "No. 16142". The London Gazette. 3 May 1808. p. 622.
^ "Expedition to the Scheldt". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 26 January 1810. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
^ "No. 17505". The London Gazette. 12 August 1819. p. 1441.
^ "Thomas Grosvenor". History of Parliament. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
^ "Field Marshal Thomas Grosvenor (1764-1851) in Loughton" (PDF). Loughton & District Historical Society. September–October 2005. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
^ "Loughton then and now". Enfield Independent. 29 March 2011. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
^ "No. 20660". The London Gazette (Supplement). 10 November 1846. p. 3987.

Sources

Heathcote, Tony (1999). The British Field Marshals, 1736–1997: A Biographical Dictionary. Barnsley: Leo Cooper.
ISBN 0-85052-696-5
.

External links

Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Thomas Grosvenor

Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by Thomas Grosvenor Viscount Belgrave	Member of Parliament for Chester 1795–1800 With: Viscount Belgrave	Succeeded by Parliament of the United Kingdom
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Parliament of the Great Britain	Member of Parliament for Chester 1801–1826 With: Viscount Belgrave 1801–1802 Richard Erle-Drax-Grosvenor 1802–1807 John Grey Egerton 1807–1818 Viscount Belgrave 1818–1826	Succeeded by Lord Robert Grosvenor Viscount Belgrave
Preceded by Edward Stanley John Foster Barham	Member of Parliament for Stockbridge 1826–1830 With: George Wilbraham	Succeeded by George Wilbraham William Sloane-Stanley
Military offices
Preceded by Edmund Stevens	Colonel of the 65th Regiment of Foot 1814–1851	Succeeded by Samuel Benjamin Auchmuty
Preceded by Charles Stuart	Colonel of the 97th (later 96th) Regiment of Foot 1806–1814	Succeeded by Gordon Drummond

[odnb-1] 
doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/11675. Retrieved 23 February 2014. (Subscription or UK public library membership
required.)

[heath154-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Heathcote, p. 154

[3] "No. 13768". The London Gazette. 7 April 1795. p. 321.

[4] "No. 15311". The London Gazette. 15 November 1800. p. 1294.

[5] "No. 16142". The London Gazette. 3 May 1808. p. 622.

[6] "Expedition to the Scheldt". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 26 January 1810. Retrieved 23 February 2014.

[7] "No. 17505". The London Gazette. 12 August 1819. p. 1441.

[8] "Thomas Grosvenor". History of Parliament. Retrieved 23 February 2014.

[9] "Field Marshal Thomas Grosvenor (1764-1851) in Loughton" (PDF). Loughton & District Historical Society. September–October 2005. Retrieved 23 February 2014.

[10] "Loughton then and now". Enfield Independent. 29 March 2011. Retrieved 23 February 2014.

[11] "No. 20660". The London Gazette (Supplement). 10 November 1846. p. 3987.

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