Constituency : Newark 1859-74
Grosvenor was a local solicitor educated at Louth Grammar School. He was also a businessman with directorships in life assurance and railway companies.
In 1859 Grosvenor unseated the sitting Whig Lord Lincoln although he was not a regular radical. He spoke in support of Russell's Reform Bill in 1860.
Grosvenor achieved lasting fame in 1867 with his famous Amendment to Disraeli's Reform Bill which proposed admitting "compounders" i.e those who paid rates as part of their rental payments to the franchise by making personal payment of rates compulsory. This would vastly increase the new electorate and when Disraeli unexpectedly accepted it ( rather than one from Gladstone's man Childers ) he was assured of enough Liberal support to get the Act passed. It did not endear Grosvenor to Gladstone who was hoping to defeat Disraeli on the compound issue. The financial consequences for local authorities were adverse and compounding was reintroduced two years later without affecting the franchise.
Grosvenor stood down in 1874.
He died in 1881 aged 62.
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