Hugh Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster

Hugh Lupus Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster, (13 October 1825 – 22 December 1899), styled Viscount Belgrave between 1831 and 1845, Earl Grosvenor between 1845 and 1869, and known as The Marquess of Westminster between 1869 and 1874, was an English landowner, politician and racehorse owner. He inherited the estate of Eaton Hall in Cheshire and land in Mayfair and Belgravia, London, and spent much of his fortune in developing these properties. Although he was an MP from the age of 22, and then a member of the House of Lords, his main interests were not in politics, but rather in his estates, in horse racing, and in country pursuits. He developed the stud at Eaton Hall and achieved success in racing his horses, who won the Derby on four occasions.

Personal life Hugh Lupus Grosvenor was born at Eaton Hall, Cheshire, the second and eldest surviving son of Richard Grosvenor, 2nd Marquess of Westminster and Lady Elizabeth Leveson-Gower, the younger daughter of George Leveson-Gower, the 2nd Marquess of Stafford and later the 1st Duke of Sutherland. Lady Constance Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, the fourth daughter of the 2nd Duke of Sutherland.

In 1880, Constance died from Bright's disease (nephritis). Two years later, in June 1882, Grosvenor married Katherine Cavendish, third daughter of the 2nd Baron Chesham and Henrietta Frances Lascelles. She was then aged 24, younger than the duke's eldest son and two of his daughters. They had four children, two sons and two daughters. When Gladstone died in 1898, Grosvenor presided over a Gladstone National Memorial committee that commissioned statues of him, and rebuilt Gladstone's St Deiniol's Library at Hawarden in north Wales. He led the Cheshire Yeomanry as Colonel Commandant from 1869. He also supported charities; at one time or another, he was the president of five London hospitals, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the Metropolitan Drinking Fountain and Cattle Trough Association, the Gardeners' Royal Beneficent Association, the Hampstead Heath Protection Society, the Early Closing Association, the United Committee for the Demoralization of Native Races by the Liquor Traffic, and the Royal Agricultural Society. He was a member of the Council for the Promotion of Cremation; at that time cremation was unpopular with the Church. In 1883 he was appointed as Lord Lieutenant of Cheshire, and when the London County Council was created in 1888, he became the first Lord Lieutenant of the County of London. It is said that the hall's guests "were not greatly amused" by the carillon of 28 bells that played 28 tunes and sounded every quarter of the hour during the day and night. He commissioned G. F. Bodley to rebuild St Mary's Church in his Cheshire estate village of Eccleston, which was completed in 1899, the year of his death. He also spent money on Grosvenor House in London and Cliveden in Buckinghamshire, which he had inherited on the death of his mother-in-law. He built shooting lodges on sporting estates in Sutherland, in Scotland, that he rented from his cousin, the Duke of Sutherland. He oversaw much rebuilding in Mayfair and commissioned architects—such as Norman Shaw, Aston Webb and Alfred Waterhouse—to design new buildings. He held his own opinions on architectural styles and decoration, favouring the Queen Anne style rather than the Italianate stucco preferred by his father; for red brick and terracotta; for stucco to be painted bright orange, and railings in chocolate or red; and for Oxford Street to be paved with wooden blocks. He opposed the use of telegraph poles and wires and would not allow any building work during the London season. He encouraged the provision of more urinals, both on his estates and in London generally, and has been described as a "one-man planning and enforcement officer".

On 11 December, while visiting the same granddaughter at the Shaftesbury estate, St Giles House in Dorset, he developed bronchitis. He frequently suffered from bouts of bronchitis in the winters and was reported to be recovering, but on 20 December his condition took a grave turn. Members of his family were summoned to St Giles, where he died two days later.

He was cremated in Woking Crematorium and his ashes were buried in the churchyard of Eccleston Church, Cheshire. The 1st Duke of Westminster had two cenotaphs erected in his honour, one in the Grosvenor Chapel of Eccleston Church and another in the south transept of Chester Cathedral. Another memorial was a stained-glass window in the south transept of Westminster Abbey, dedicated by the Dean in September 1902.

He was succeeded as Duke of Westminster by his grandson, Hugh.

Estate At his death he was "reputedly the wealthiest man in Britain"; his estate for the purposes of probate was £594,229 (equivalent to £ million as of ), and his real estate (entailed therefore not included in his personal estate under the law of that time) was valued at about £6 million . Provision was made for his wider family, including: Increasing the marriage settlements of his sons Lord Henry and Lord Arthur Grosvenor from £30,000 to £50,000 each, as well as granting each life annuities of £3,000; Lord Edward Arthur (27 October 1892 – 26 August 1929), who married Lady Dorothy Margaret, the daughter of Valentine Browne, 5th Earl of Kenmare.