William Chaffin (Chafin or Chafyn) Grove (c. 1731–1793) was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

from 1768 to 1781. Grove was the son of Chafin Grove of

Zeals Zeals is a village and civil parish in southwest Wiltshire, England. The village is about west of Mere, next to the A303 road towards Wincanton, and adjoins the villages of Bourton, Dorset and Penselwood, Somerset. Its name comes from the Old E ...

, Wiltshire and his wife Ann Amor. He was educated at Sutton and was admitted at

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

on 30 April 1750, aged 18. He entered

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

in 1750 and was called to the bar in 1756. Zeals House from the west (geograph 3165155)

Grove was returned as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Shaftesbury Shaftesbury () is a town and civil parish in Dorset, England. It is situated on the A30 road, west of Salisbury, near the border with Wiltshire. It is the only significant hilltop settlement in Dorset, being built about above sea level on a ...

in the 1768 general election after a contest. In Parliament he voted consistently with the Opposition. He was appointed Deputy Lieutenant for Dorset and Poole in 1769.Appointment of William Chafin Grove of Waddon, esq., as deputy lieutenant for Dorset
/ref> In the

1774 Events January–March * January 21 – Mustafa III, List of Ottoman Sultans, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, dies and is succeeded by his brother Abdul Hamid I. * January 27 ** An angry crowd in Boston, Massachusetts seizes, tars, and f ...

election he decided not to contest Shaftesbury on account of the cost, but he had some property at Weymouth and was returned unopposed as MP for Weymouth and Melcombe Regis. He also became

Recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...

at Weymouth in 1774 and held the position until 1786. The

English Chronicle ''The English Chronicle'' was a thrice-weekly evening newspaper founded in London in 1779. History and profile ''The Chronicle'' was founded in 1779 although the founders are not known. In 1781 it was given the supplementary title ''Or, Universal ...

wrote of him in 1780: "An invariable and inveterate advocate for Administration, but not distinguished in any particular degree for any other quality either good or bad". He was returned again for Weymouth and Melcombe Regis in the general election of 1780 but resigned his seat in April 1781. He was High Sheriff of Wiltshire in 1784–85. He married his distant cousin, Elizabeth Grove, daughter of John Grove of

Ferne House Ferne House is a country house in the parish of Donhead St Andrew in Wiltshire, England, owned by Viscount Rothermere. There has been a settlement on the site since 1225 AD. The current house, known as Ferne Park and the third to occupy the sit ...

near Shaftesbury on 7 October 1776. He died on 27 January 1793, aged 62.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grove, William Chaffin 1730s births 1793 deaths Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Members of the Middle Temple English lawyers Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1768–1774 British MPs 1774–1780 British MPs 1780–1784 High Sheriffs of Wiltshire