THE HISTORY OF A GREAT FORTUNE.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume 31, Issue 9220, 8 June 1900, Page 4

THE HISTORY OF A GREAT FORTUNE.

Although the Gresvenor family have produced ho great statesmen, poets,or soldiers, still their history has not been sullied by the vices of spendthrifts or profligates. A thrifty race, the wealth they have acquired is due, as will be presently seen, to a succession of fortunate marriages.

The origin of the family stretches back till it is lost in the mists of the dark ages. The name is probably derived from "lo £ros," a great hunter, which their ancesler Rollo, the Dane, who invaded Normandy, in 876, undoubtedly was. In 1066 Gilbert h- Grosvenor, his descendant, accompanied William the Conqueror U> England, and as Hugh Lupus, a connection, appears in the " Doomsday Book," it is probable the family were well regarded for their services.

In the reign of Henry V. the failure of a male heir scattered the family possessions amongst six daughters. Sir Thomas Grosvfcnor, Kut,, however, the scion of a youcg branch, came to the rescue, his marriage with Isabella Persh*ll, a lady of fair estate, being the first of the alliances which have contributed in so remarkable a degree to the position the family now occupy.

In the reign of Henry VI. Raufe le Grosveooi married Joan Eton, acquiring thereby much land in Wales, including the manor of Eton (now Eaton) —on which is built the magnificent Baton Hall—near Chester, the toll of the ferry, and sole right of fishing in the River Dee. At that time the Grosvenor income .estimated by modern reckoning was not large, for in 14-65 it was only ±126 13s. 4-d. In the reign of Henry VIII. another heiress was introduced in the person of a daughter of Richard Cotton, and the wealth thus acquited enabled the fanuly to purchaue a baronetcy from James I, for £3OO, below which price that thrifty monarch always refused to sell this title.

In 1652 the fortunes ef the family were temporarily obscured by Cromwell sequestrating the which were, however, restored ob trie accession of Charies 11.~ Taeysssspiissd then, as now, 15,001 icres in Cheshire, present rentil—subject of course to deductions consequent on the prevailing agricultural depression—£29,ooo ; Flint, 3,335 acres, producing £4,925 ; Denbigh, 855 acres, £1 830 ; to till, £35,755. In the year 1655 the Great Plague of London broke out. Thousands died aud thousands fled. The whole fabric of society was shattered, and universal consternation prevailed. The gentry living iu the outskirts of the City soon joined the general exodus, —intrusting before taking to flight—their jewels and deeds to a Mr. Alexander Davis, a gentleman residing at libury now Pimlico—who had decided to remain. Mr. Davis appears to have been an honest man, and waited patiently for the return of hia friend?, but as the years rolled on and no claimants appeared, be at length—it is said with the consent of the King—took possession of the lands which now coDStitute the district known as Belgravia.with the exception of Ecclestonj and the Wilton Crescent property, which latter was acquired by the marriage of the stcoud Earl Giosvenor with the heiress of the Grey de Wiltou family, in 1794. 1b 1676 Mary Davis, daughter aud only child of Alexander Davis, married Sir Thomas Gro:veuor, of Peterborough Houee, Millbauk, which had been purchased of the eccentric Bar) of Peterborough, and when her father died the Davis property devolved on her son. Sir Robert Grosveuor. Later anothor baronet married the only daughter of the wealthy Thomas Warre, a union which enabled Sir Richard Grosveuor, in 1758, to purchase a small hamlet, now known as Ecclt ston-square. At this time none of the Davis lands were built on, and the entire income of the family in 1779 was only £27,000 a year, and mostly derived from the Welsh property. In 1761 the head of the Grosvenors was created Baron Grosvenor. In 1784 an earldom i was secured, a distinction which led to the marriage of Miss Drax, heiress of Edward Drax, of Chaiborougb, with the nephew of the first earl. In 1831, the growing wealth sf the family was rewarded by a marquis&te ; aud ia 1874 the present representative of the family blossomed into a duke. At the commencement of the present century the distiict now kßown as Pimlico, Ebury, etc., was let out for grazing purposes. The writer of the present article has frequently heard his grandfather relate how in 1809 he obtained permission to shoot over fields which he lived ta see covered with hauseß. The capjbilitie* of Mayfuir for building were recognised much sooner, although even as late as 1701 the ground now occupied by lordly dwellings was let out as a fair. About the year 1700 Grosvenor-square was built. Proud of its antiquity, and detesting all innovations, it declined to exchange its oil lamps for gas till 1845. Pimlico was built in the fifties by Cubitts, the builders. Some idea of the Belgravian property may be formed from ■he Tact that ten of its thoroughfares cont'ain i n fewer than 980 houses. In Mount-street, which contains 130 houses one of the tradespeople told tho writer that they had bt en all rtbuilt by the tenants at an averof £7,500 e*ujh, in addition to ground-roots av. racing Irom £4 to £6 per foot. If the tennantu are fortunate enough to let out the upper pcitionsof the houses which have been designed i s residential flats, they will doubtless obtain a fsir return for their money. Anyhow, when the leases fall in they will help to swell the tmoimous revenues of the Grosveuors [ n the next century tho rent-roll of this family will "pproach two millions per annux.