James Grimston, 2nd Viscount Grimston (9 October 1711 – 15 December 1773) was a British peer and Member of Parliament. Old-Gorhambury-House-20051002-034

Grimston was the eldest surviving son of

William Grimston, 1st Viscount Grimston William Grimston, 1st Viscount Grimston (31 December 1684 – 15 October 1756) was an English peer and politician who sat in the House of Commons of Great Britain between 1710 and 1734. Grimston was born as William Luckyn, the younger son of Sir ...

, and Jean Cooke. He was elected to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

for

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

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 The peerage of Ireland consists of those Peerage, titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lordship of Ireland, Lord or Monarchy of Ireland, King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great B ...

it did not prohibit him from sitting in the House of Commons. He also inherited

Gorhambury House Gorhambury House is a Palladian architecture, Palladian-style house near St Albans, Hertfordshire, England. It was built between 1777 and 1784 to replace Old Gorhambury House, which was left to fall into ruin. It was designed by Sir Robert Tayl ...

(now Old Gorhambury House), near St Albans, Hertfordshire. Lord Grimston married Mary Bucknall, daughter of William Bucknall of

Oxhey Oxhey is a suburb of Watford, under the jurisdiction of the Watford Borough Council in the county of Hertfordshire, England. It is in the Oxhey ward of Watford Borough Council. The wider locations which comprise the modern Oxhey area are Oxhe ...

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

and Mary famous portrait as it, in 1746, and had eight children, 3 sons and 5 daughters. He died in December 1773, aged 62, and was succeeded in his titles by his son

James James may refer to: People * James (given name) * James (surname) * James (musician), aka Faruq Mahfuz Anam James, (born 1964), Bollywood musician * James, brother of Jesus * King James (disambiguation), various kings named James * Prince Ja ...

. 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 Psyche (''Psyché'' in French) is the Greek term for "soul" ( ψυχή). Psyche or La Psyché may also refer to: Psychology * Psyche (psychology), the totality of the human mind, conscious and unconscious * ''Psyche'', an 1846 book about the unc ...

, painted by

Henry Hoppner Meyer Henry Meyer (12 June 1780 – 28 May 1847) was an English portrait painter, more known as a Stippling, stipple and mezzotint engraver. His son, Bernard Francis Hoppner Meyer (20 April 1811 – 3 June 1888) was also an artist. Biography Meyer ...

. Lord Grimston's daughter Mary married William Hale, grandson of the eminent judge

Sir Bernard Hale Sir Bernard Hale (1677–1729) was an English-born barrister and judge who became Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer. Two of his sons became Generals in the British Army.Ball, F. Elrington ''The Judges in Ireland 1221–1921'' London John Murray ...

Notes

References

*Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Grimston, James Grimston, 2nd Viscount 1711 births 1773 deaths Viscounts in the Peerage of Ireland Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1754–1761