GROSE, FRANCIS, an eminent English antiquary, was the son of Francis Grose, a native of Switzerland, who, settling in England, followed the trade of a jeweller, and was employed as such in fitting up the crown for the coronation of King George II. Francis Groso the younger was born at Greenford in Middlesex, according to Noble; Chalmers says in 1731. Ills bate for heraldry and antiquities induced hia father, at an early period, to procure a place for him in the Heralds' College, where he received the appointment of Richmond Herald, a post which he resigned in 1763, when he became adjntant and paymaster of the Hampshire militia. At a subsequent time he was a captain in the Surrey militia. His father, who died in 1769, left him an Independent income, which he had unfortunately neither the disposition to increase nor the prudence to preserve. Whilst paymaster of the Hampshire militia, ho used jocosely to say that he had only two books of accounts, his right and left hand pockets. In the one he received, and from the other paid. Designing persons, of course, regarded him as their dnpe : and he soon felt the effects of his credulity. His losses however roused his latent talents. To a good education he united a taste for drawing, which he now began again to cultivate, and, eacourtgcd by his friends, he undertook a work from which he derived both profit and reputation. lie began to publish his Views of Antiquities In England and Wales,' in 1773, in numbers, and finished them in 1776. In 1777 he resumed his pencil, and added two more volumes to his 'Eoglish Views,' in whieb he included the islands of Guernsey and Jersey. In the summer of 1789 he set out on a tour to Scotland, the result of which he began to communicate to the publio in 1790, in numbers : but before he had concluded this work, in the spring of 1791, he went to Ireland, intending to furnish that kingdom with views and descriptions of her antiquities in the same manner in which ho had done those of Great Britain : but soon after his arrival in Dublin, at the house of a Mr. Hone, he was
suddenly seized at table with an apoplectic fit, on May 12th, and died immediately.
Captain Grose's other publications were, a Treatise on Antient Armour and Weapons,' 4to, 1785, to which he added a Supplement, 4to, 1780; a' Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue; Svo, 1785 ; 'Military Antiquities,' 2 vols. 4to, 1786-88; the History of Dover Castle, by the Rev. William Darell,' 4to, 1788; 'Rules for Drawing Caricatures,' 8vo, 1788; and a 'Guide to Health, Beauty, Honour, and Riches; a collection of numerous advertisements, pointing out means to obtain those blessings,' 12mo. The 'Olio,' a collection of essays, and other small pieces highly characteristic of Mr. Grose, and bearing his name, but certainly not made entirely by him, was publiehed in 8vo, 1793. The Antiquities of Ireland' were completed by Mr. Ledwich, and published in 2 vols. 4to. and 8vo, 1794. Ills antiquarian works display but very insufficient qualifications, either in learning or acumen, for the task of elucidating obscure subjects. Those who knew Captain Grose say that his literary acquirements were far exceeded by his good-humour, his conviviality, and his friendship. In person he was remarkably corpulent.