Hugh Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster

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For other persons named Hugh Grosvenor, see Hugh Grosvenor (disambiguation).
The duke as Marquess of Westminster by Carlo Pellegrini, 1870.
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The duke as Marquess of Westminster by Carlo Pellegrini, 1870.

Hugh Lupus Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster KG (13 October 182522 December 1899) was the son of Richard Grosvenor, 2nd Marquess of Westminster and Lady Elizabeth Mary Leveson-Gower.

He married, firstly, Lady Constance Gertrude Leveson-Gower, daughter of George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 2nd Duke of Sutherland and Lady Harriet Elizabeth Georgiana Howard, on 28 April 1852. He married, secondly, Hon. Katherine Caroline Cavendish, daughter of William George Cavendish, 2nd Baron Chesham and Henrietta Frances Lascelles, on 29 June 1882.

He was created Duke of Westminster on 27 February 1874, the most recent person neither born into nor related by marriage to the British Royal Family to be advanced to the highest degree of the peerage. He had succeeded as 3rd Marquess of Westminster and 4th Earl Grosvenor in 1869. By the time of his elevation the family's London property in Mayfair, Belgravia and Pimlico had made it the richest family in the United Kingdom. He had his main country seat, Eaton Hall in Cheshire, reconstructed at enormous expense. He was one of the most successful British race horse owners of all time.

He spent 22 years in the House of Commons before he inherited the Marquessate, elected as a member of the Liberal Party. He later served as Lord Lieutenant of Cheshire and of London.

He was appointed honorary colonel of the Cheshire Yeomanry on February 21, 1891.

[edit] Family

He was the father of sixteen children by two wives, and the second to fifth dukes were all grandsons of his through three different sons.

Children by Lady Constance Gertrude Leveson-Gower:

Children by Hon. Katherine Caroline Cavendish:

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by:
Lord Robert Grosvenor
Sir John Jervis
Member for Chester
with Sir John Jervis 1847–1850,
William Owen Stanley 1850–1857,
Enoch Gibbon Salisbury 1857–1859,
Philip Stapleton Humberston 1859–1865,
William Henry Gladstone 1865–1868,
Henry Cecil Raikes 1868–1869

1847–1869
Succeeded by:
Henry Cecil Raikes
Norman de L'Aigle Grosvenor
Political offices
Preceded by:
The Earl of Bradford
Master of the Horse
1880–1885
Succeeded by:
The Earl of Bradford
Honorary Titles
Preceded by:
The Earl Egerton of Tatton
Lord Lieutenant of Cheshire
1883–1889
Succeeded by:
Sir William Bromley-Davenport
Preceded by:
New post
Lord Lieutenant of the County of London
1889–1899
Succeeded by:
The Duke of Fife
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by:
New Creation
Duke of Westminster
1874–1899
Succeeded by:
Hugh Grosvenor
Preceded by:
Richard Grosvenor
Marquess of Westminster
1869–1899