Francis Grose

Francis Grose (born before 11 June 1731 – 12 May 1791) was an English antiquary, draughtsman, and lexicographer. He produced A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue (1785) and A Provincial Glossary, with a Collection of Local Proverbs, and Popular Superstitions (1787). Grose was born at his father's house in Broad Street, St-Peter-le-Poer, London. His parents were Swiss immigrant and jeweller Francis Jacob Grose (d. 1769), and his wife, Anne (d. 1773), daughter of Thomas Bennett of Greenford in Middlesex. Grose was baptised on 11 June 1731 in the parish of St Peter-le-Poer. The eldest of seven children, Grose probably received a classical education but first aimed at a career in the Army. In 1747, he was in Flanders, apparently as a volunteer in Howard's (later 19th) regiment of foot: later he received a commission as cornet in Cobham's (later 10th) regiment of dragoons. Posted to Kent on excise duties in 1750, he met and married Catherine Jordan of Canterbury. They were eventually to have ten children, six of whom survived to adulthood. Their eldest son, also called Francis Grose, was the Lieutenant Governor of New South Wales, Australia from 1792 to 1794. Grose left the army in October 1751, possibly to avoid his regiment's posting to Scotland. In 1755, his father bought him the post of Richmond Herald but Francis showed little interest in heraldry and was to sell it again in February 1763. In 1757, Grose was elected a member of the Society of Antiquaries, and 1759 he resumed his soldiering career, this time in the militia, which meant he could avoid distant postings. He was commissioned into the Surrey Militia as lieutenant and adjutant, and it was his subsequent promotion to captain in 1765 that led to his adoption of the familiar title "Captain Grose". The Surrey militia was disembodied in 1762 but this hardly affected Grose, who continued to receive a salary as paymaster and adjutant even in peacetime.