Grosvenor, Richard, 2nd Marquess of Westminster (1795 -1869)

The Honourable Richard Grosvenor was known under this name from 1795 to 1802, Viscount Belgrave from 1802 to 1831, and Earl Grosvenor from 1831 to 1845. He was born at Millbank House, Westminster, London, the eldest of the three sons of Robert Grosvenor, 1st Marquess of Westminster and Lady Eleanor Egerton. He was educated at Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford where he graduated MA. Between 1830 and 1834 he was elected as Whig MP for Chester and South Cheshire, and from 1845 to 1867, he was Lord Lieutenant of Cheshire. He was presented with the Order of the Garter on 6 July 1857.
Lord Westminster married Lady Elizabeth Leveson-Gower, younger daughter of George Leveson-Gower, 2nd Marquess of Stafford (later 1st Duke of Sutherland), in 1819. They
had thirteen children, ten of whom survived into adulthood and three of whom lived into their nineties. Their second son Hugh Lupus Grosvenor succeeded him as 3rd Marquess, later being created Duke of Westminster.
In 1845 on the death of his father, Grosvenor became the 2nd Marquess of Westminster. He pursued the family interest in horse racing, and when he was staying at his country estate of Eaton Hall near Chester, he spent time hunting and fishing. He gave generously to charity, and built and restored churches. He was an early patron of the Chester architect John Douglas. In 1865 the citizens of Chester raised money for the erection of a statue in his honour. The statue, showing the marquess in his garter robes, was erected in 1869; it still stands in Grosvenor Park in Chester.