Grose, Francis

(?1731-1791)

   Born in Middlesex, the eldest son of a prosperous jeweler, he chose to study art rather than go to university, and he went on to illustrate his own books. He served for more than twenty years in the army and is one of the period's greatest antiquarians. In character he was described as a sort of antiquarian Falstaff. Robert Burns wrote "Tam O' Shanter" so that Grose would include a drawing of Alloway Kirk in his Antiquities of Scotland (1789-1791). Burns wrote a poem, "On the late Captain Grose's Peregrinations." Grose died in Dublin and is buried in Drumcondra churchyard. Some of his publications: The Antiquities of England and Wales, 1772-1776. Advice to the Officers of the British Army, 1782. A Guide to Health, Beauty, Riches, and Honor, 1783. A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 1785. Military Antiquities, 1786-1788. A Provincial Glossary, 1787. Rules for Drawing Caricatures, 1788. Antiquities of Ireland, 1791 (completed by his friend Dr. Edward Ledwich). Some of his poems: "On a Wife," "On One Munday, Who Hanged Himself," "Poetical Epistle to Mrs. Green."

   Sources: Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. Francis Grose (c. 1731-1791), The Antiquities of England and Wales (http://www.antiquemapsandprints.com/GROSE.htm). Great Books Online (www.bartleby.com). On Captain Francis Grose (http://www.worldburnsclub.com/poems/translations/on_captain_francis_grose.htm). The National Library of Ireland - Collections - Prints and Drawings (http://www.nli.ie/co_print.htm).