James Grimston, 2nd Viscount Grimston

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James Grimston
Member of Parliament
for St Albans
In office
1755–1761
Preceded byPeter Thompson
Succeeded byGeorge Harcourt
Personal details
Born9 October 1711
Died15 December 1773(1773-12-15) (aged 62)
ChildrenJames, William, 5 daughters and 1 other son
ParentWilliam Grimston

James Grimston, 2nd Viscount Grimston (9 October 1711 – 15 December 1773) was a British peer and Member of Parliament.

Old Gorhambury House

Grimston was the eldest surviving son of William Grimston, 1st Viscount Grimston, and Jean Cooke.

He was elected to the House of Commons for St Albans in 1754, a seat he held until 1761. He appears never to have spoken in the House. In 1756, he succeeded his father in the viscountcy but as this was an Irish peerage it did not prohibit him from sitting in the House of Commons. He also inherited Gorhambury House (now Old Gorhambury House), near St Albans, Hertfordshire.[1]

Lord Grimston married Mary Bucknall, daughter of William Bucknall of Oxhey, Watford and Mary famous portrait as it, in 1746, and had eight children, 5 daughters and 3 sons. He died on 15 December 1773, aged 62, and was succeeded in his titles by his son James. Lady Grimston died in 1778. His second son was the politician William Grimston (1750-1814), who later changed his name to William Bucknall on inheriting the estate of his mother's brother James Askell Bucknall. There is a famous portrait of William's only daughter Sophia as Psyche, painted by Henry Hoppner Meyer. Lord Grimston's daughter Mary married William Hale, grandson of the eminent judge Sir Bernard Hale.

"Psyche"- portrait of Lord Grimston"s granddaughter Sophia Bucknall

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ "GRIMSTON, Hon. James (1711–73), of Gorhambury, Herts". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 22 February 2018.

References[edit]

Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by Member of Parliament for St Albans
17541761
With: James West
Succeeded by
Peerage of Ireland
Preceded by Viscount Grimston
1756–1773
Succeeded by