GROVE, Robert (c.1510-80), of Donhead St. Andrew, Wilts.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558-1603, ed. P.W. Hasler, 1981
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

Family and Education

b. c.1510, 2nd s. of Thomas Grove of Donhead St. Andrew by Isabel, da. of John Luyshe. m. Joan, da. of John Combe of Cann, Dorset, 3s. 1da.

Offices Held

Sir Thomas Arundell’s steward for the manor of Sturminster Newton, Dorset c.1540; receiver of Queen’s (Catherine Parr’s) lands in Dorset 1543-8; Sir Thomas Arundell’s steward and surveyor by 1545-52; steward, surveyor and later comptroller of the household to the 1st and 2nd Earls of Pembroke from c.1554; feodary, Wilts. by 1561.2

Biography

Grove, a man of humble origin, carried out with Charles Vaughan between 1566 and 1567 a detailed survey of the 1st Earl of Pembroke’s lands, each roll of which begins with a picture of Pembroke and his two servants. By the time of the 1st Earl’s funeral Grove was described as ‘comptroller’. He continued in the service of the 2nd Earl, and paid particular attention to the Pembroke estates in South Wales. He was active in local affairs, his position as feodary entailing service on commissions of inquisition post mortem and the compilation of surveys. The bulk of Grove’s land lay in Wiltshire and included leases of property in Donhead held from Sir Thomas Arundell (in whose service he had begun his career) and Henry Saunders. He also owned property in Dorset.3

It was no doubt the 2nd Earl of Pembroke who had Grove returned for Shaftesbury in 1572. He sat on a committee concerned with weapons, 22 May 1572, and his name occurs among those on a committee concerned with hats, 22 Feb. 1581. But this last must be a mistake as his will, made 31 Dec. 1579, was proved the following 21 June. He asked to be buried in Donhead churchyard, mentioned £200 in gold in a chest in Shaftesbury, and left plate and furniture to his heir William, and various leases to his second son Matthew. His family continued to play a rôle in west-country affairs.4

Ref Volumes: 1558-1603

Author: P. W. Hasler

Notes

  • 1. Did not serve for the full duration of the Parliament.
  • 2. Hoare, Wilts. Dunworth, 57-8; E134/13-14 Eliz./Mich. 3; LP Hen. VIII, xxi(1), p. 740; Pembroke Survey (Roxburghe Club) 501; SC6/Edw. VI/148; Wilts. Arch. Soc. xviii. 128; CPR, 1560-3, p. 94.
  • 3. CPR, 1548-9, p. 144; 1554-5, p. 336; 1558-60, p. 213; 1560-3, pp. 81, 94, 1247; 1563-6, p. 461; HMC Foljambe, 8; Stowe 571, f. 97; Pembroke Survey, passim; Dorset Nat. Hist. Antiq. Field Club Procs. xlix. 107; Wilts. Arch. Mag. xviii. 128; Stradling Corresp. ed. Traherne, 71, 327-9; CSP Dom. Add. 1547-65, pp. 550-1.
  • 4. CJ, i. 96, 129; PCC 23 Arundel.