Social Victorians/People/Westminster

Also Known As

• Family name: Grosvenor
• Hugh Lupus Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster: VIAF: 52464159
• The Grosvenors were a large family and, except for the immediate family of the Duke of Westminster at the end of the 19th century, are treated on the Grosvenor page for the family of the Baron of Ebury and on the Wilton page for the descendants of Thomas Grosvenor Egerton.

Overview

A number of people from the extended Grosvenor family attended the Duchess of Devonshire's 1897 fancy-dress ball at Devonshire House, including the Duke and Duchess of Westminster, their daughter, two sons and two nieces.

Acquaintances, Friends and Enemies

Hugh Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster

• William Ewart Gladstone
• Florence Nightingale

Bendor Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster

• Coco Chanel
• Winston Churchill

Timeline

1874 November 3, Victor Alexander Grosvenor, Earl Grosvenor and Lady Sibell Mary Lumley married.

1882 July 19, Hugh Lupus Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster and Katherine Cavendish Grosvenor married.

1887 February 7, Lady Sibell Mary Lumley Grosvenor and Rt. Hon. George Wyndham married.

1897 June 28, Monday, according to the Morning Post, Katherine, Duchess of Westminster was invited to the 28 June Queen's Garden Party, the official end of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations in London.

1897 July 2, Hugh, Duke and Katherine, Duchess of Westminster attended the Duchess of Devonshire's fancy-dress ball at Devonshire House, as did their daughter, two sons and two granddaughters. (Hugh, Duke of Westminster is #173 on the list of people who attended; Katherine, Duchess of Westminster is #34; Elizabeth Butler, Marchioness of Ormonde is #373; Lord Arthur Grosvenor is #619; Lord Gerald Grosvenor is #618; Lady C. Grosvenor is #229; Lady Lettice Grosvenor is #304.)

1901 February 16, Bendor Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster and Shelagh (Constance Edwina) Cornwallis-West married.

1919, Bendor Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster and Constance Edwina Cornwallis-West divorced.

1920 January 14, Constance Cornwallis-West Grosvenor and FitzPatrick Lewes married.

Costume at the Duchess of Devonshire's 2 July 1897 Fancy-dress Ball

The Duke and Duchess of Westminster attended the Duchess of Devonshire's fancy-dress ball at Devonshire House, as did sons Lord Arthur and Lord Gerald. Also attending with the Duke and Duchess were two granddaughters, Lady C. Grosvenor (possibly Lady Constance Sibell Grosvenor) and her sister Lady Lettice Grosvenor, whose father was Victor Alexander Grosvenor, Earl Grosvenor (who is not reported to have attended the ball). The Duke's daughter Lady Elizabeth Harriet Grosvenor was present as the Marchioness of Ormonde. Victor, Earl Grosvenor, Lord Arthur Grosvenor, Lord Gerald Grosvenor and Elizabeth, Marchioness of Ormonde were children of the Duke and his first wife, Constance Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, who died in 1880.

Katherine, Duchess of Westminster

At the Duchess of Devonshire's fancy-dress ball, Katherine Grosvenor, Duchess of Westminster sat at Table 9, escorted in by the American Ambassador, John Hay. She was dressed as Queen Elizabeth of Bavaria. She was in

• "the character of Queen Elizabeth of Bavaria, [and] was in a nice white satin gown, with tabbed bodice, delicately embroidered in silver, collar of beautiful old lace very high at the back, slashed sleeves of satin, silver embroidery, and chiffon, divided into puffs with blue ribbon."
• a "White satin gown with tabbed bodice, delicately embroidered in silver; collar of beautiful old lace, very high at the back; slashed sleeves of satin, silver embroidery, and chiffon divided into puffs, with blue ribbon."
• a "white satin gown with tabbed bodice delicately embroidered in silver, collar of beautiful old lace very high at the back, slashed sleeves of satin, silver embroidery, and chiffon divided into puffs with blue.
• "white satin with touches of blue, and very much embroidered in silver and diamonds."
• "white satin, with touches of blue, and very much embroidered in silver and diamonds."

Hugh Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster, c. 1891

Hugh, Duke of Westminster

The Duke of Westminster also attended. We know nothing about who, if anyone, he was dressed as or what he wore.

The photograph of Hugh, Duke of Westminster (right) by Elliot and Fry is from c. 1891, so he is about 66 years old.

Lord Arthur Grosvenor

Lord Arthur Grosvenor, Arthur Hugh Grosvenor. He was dressed as King Arthur in the Queen Guinevere and the Knights of the Round Table of King Arthur procession. His sister, Elizabeth Butler, Marchioness of Ormonde was dressed as Guinevere, and the Times credits her as leading the Knights of the Round Table of King Arthur procession.

Lord Gerald Grosvenor

Lord Gerald Grosvenor would have been 23 years old, and was dressed as Sir Launcelot in the Queen Guinevere and the Knights of the Round Table of King Arthur procession.

Lady C. Grosvenor

Lady C. Grosvenor was among the Suite of Ladies in the Oriental procession. Possibly this is Lady Constance Sibell Grosvenor in the Duke of Westminster's family. The Suite of Ladies in the Oriental procession seem to be young unmarried women.

Lady Lettice Grosvenor

Lady Constance Grosvenor's sister, Lady Lettice Grosvenor, who would have been 20 years old, was dressed as Bianca Capelli in the Venetians procession.

Demographics

• Nationality: British

Residences, Hugh, 1st Duke of Westminster

• Eaton Hall, Cheshire
• Abbeystead House, Lancashire
• Grosvenor House, Park Lane, London

Also owned land in

• Mayfair
• Belgravia

Titles

• Duke of Westminster (UK peerage, created 1874
  • Hugh Lupus Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster (27 February 1874 – 22 December 1899)
  • Bendor (Hugh Richard Arthur) Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster (22 December 1899 – 19 July 1953)
• Duchess of Westminster
  • Constance Sutherland-Leveson-Gower Grosvenor, 1st Duchess of Westminster (27 February 1874 – 19 December 1880)
  • Katherine Cavendish Grosvenor, Duchess of Westminster (19 July 1882 – 22 December 1899, when her husband died; 16 February 1901 when her son married)
• Marquess of Westminster
  • Hugh Lupus Grosvenor (17 February 1845 – 27 February 1874)
• Earl of Grosvenor, courtesy title of eldest son and heir to the Duke
  • Bendor (Hugh Richard Arthur) Grosvenor (22 January 1884 – 22 December 1899)
  • Victor Alexander Grosvenor (1874? – 22 January 1884)
  • Hugh Lupus Grosvenor, Earl Grosvenor (1845 – 1869)
• Viscount Belgrave
  • Hugh Lupus Grosvenor (1831 – 1845)
• Baron Ebury
• Thomas Grosvenor Egerton, 2nd Earl of Wilton

Family

• Hugh Lupus Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster (13 October 1825 – 22 December 1899)
• Constance Gertrude Sutherland-Leveson-Gower Grosvenor (16 June 1834 – 19 December 1880)

1. unknown son
2. unknown son
3. Victor Alexander Grosvenor, Earl Grosvenor (28 April 1853 – 22 January 1884)
4. Lady Elizabeth Harriet Grosvenor (11 October 1856 – 25 March 1928)
5. Lady Beatrice Constance Grosvenor (14 November 1858 – 12 January 1911)
6. Lt.-Col. Arthur Hugh Grosvenor (31 May 1860 – 29 April 1929)
7. Lord Henry George Grosvenor (23 June 1861 – 27 December 1914)
8. Lady Blanche Gertrude Grosvenor (c. 1864 – c. 1865)
9. Lord Robert Edward Grosvenor (19 March 1869 – 16 June 1888)
10. Lady Margaret Evelyn Grosvenor Cambridge (9 April 1873 – 27 March 1929)
11. Lord Gerald Richard Grosvenor (14 July 1874 – 10 October 1940)

• Katherine Cavendish (c. December 1857 – 19 December 1941)

1. Lady Mary Cavendish (12 May 1883 – 14 January 1959)
2. Lord Hugh William (6 April 1884 – 30 October 1914)
3. Lady Helen Frances (5 February 1888 – 21 October 1970)
4. Lord Edward Arthur (27 October 1892 – 26 August 1929)

• Lady Sibell Mary Lumley (25 March 1855 – 4 February 1929)
• Victor Alexander Grosvenor, Earl Grosvenor (28 April 1853 – 22 January 1884)
  1. Lady Constance Sibell Grosvenor (22 August 1875 – 8 July 1957)
  2. Lady Lettice Mary Elizabeth Grosvenor (25 December 1876 – 28 July 1936)
  3. Bendor (Hugh Richard Arthur) Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster (9 March 1879 – 19 July 1953)
• Rt. Hon. George Wyndham (29 August 1863 – 8 June 1913)
  1. Lieutenant Percy Lyulph Wyndham (5 December 1887 – 15 September 1914)

• Bendor (Hugh Richard Arthur) Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster (9 March 1879 – 19 July 1953)
• Shelagh (Constance Edwina) Cornwallis-West (c. 1878 – 21 January 1970)
  1. Lady Ursula Mary Olivia Grosvenor (21 February 1902 – 5 June 1978)
  2. Edward George Hugh Grosvenor, Earl Grosvenor (16 November 1904 – 13 February 1909)
  3. Lady Mary Constance Grosvenor (27 June 1910 – 7 June 2000)
• Subsequent husbands and wives for both, but after 1920

Relations

• Elizabeth (Harriet), Marchioness of Ormonde was a Grosvenor belonging to the family of the 1st Duke of Westminster.
• Bendor (Hugh Richard Arthur) Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster and Shelagh (Constance Edwina) Cornwallis-West married in 1901.

Notes and Questions

1. Hugh Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster was thought to be the richest man in Britain at the time of his death.
2. Bendor Grosvenor's nickname comes from a Latin phrase ("a bend or") describing the family's ancient armorials and then perhaps also from his grandfather's race horse Bend Or, which won the Derby in 1880. Neither his friends, according to his third (of four) wife, or his family apparently ever "called him anything but Bendor or Benny."
3. Bendor Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster exposed his brother-in-law William Lygon, 7th Earl Beauchamp as homosexual to King George V and Queen Mary (in 1931).
4. Bendor (Hugh Richard Arthur) Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster was a well-known anti-Semite and Hitler sympathizer, going so far as to attempt to influence Winston Churchill on Hitler's behalf through his former mistress Coco Chanel.
5. The Suite of Ladies in the Oriental procession at the Duchess of Devonshire's 1897 fancy-dress ball included the following: a Miss West, Mary Goelet, Lady C. Grosvenor, and Miss Oppenheim. The identity of Miss West is even more uncertain than that of Lady C. Grosvenor or Hon. R. Grosvenor. Mary Goelet was 18 years old at the time of the ball; Lady Constance Grosvenor almost 22; Miss Rosalind Oppenheim's age is uncertain, but she cannot be younger than about 30 (her father remarried in 1868).