Francis Grose (British Army officer)

Lieutenant General Francis Grose (* 1758 in Greenland, Middlesex England; † May 8, 1814 in Croydon, Surrey, England ) was a British officer and became Lieutenant Governor of New South Wales in Australia.

Life

Early life

Grose was born in Greenland, Middlesex England, the eldest son of the antiquary Francis Grose and Catherine Jordan. Grose was promoted ensign in 1775 in the 52nd Regiment of Foot (infantry ) and one year later to lieutenant. Grose served during the American Revolutionary Wars, in which he was wounded at the Battle of Fort Montgomery and at Monmouth Courthouse. When he in 1779 as a lieutenant to England in 1779 returned, he worked Recruiting Officer. He rose to the rank of Major in 1783 in the 96th Regiment of Foot, and in November 1789 he was transferred to the command of the New South Wales Corps and deputy governor of the Australian colony of New South Wales.

Australia

Grose reached Sydney on 14 February 1792 and was under Governor Arthur Phillip colonial administrator whose health is deteriorating and received permission to leave Australia. As Grose took on the task of Arthur, the population of the colony of New South Wales was 4,221 persons, of whom 3,099 were convicts.

After the bad harvest of 1793 Grose reduced the rations of the convicts, but not the members of the New South Wales Corps and thus set off yet another basic rule Phillips, who had demanded equal rations for all except power. Furthermore, had Phillip recognized that control over the sale of spirits was even more so in times of crisis necessary because it would otherwise have negative consequences, but Grose took no efforts in this direction and great evils such as the payment of wages with spirits was common. The practice of the officers to operate brandy trade, reached around and in the meantime, before John Hunter came, developed in the colony trunk and gambling, debauchery and crime and the officers gained control of the trade in rum How far Grose for is to make this state responsibility can not be determined exactly. In addition, there were allegations against Grose, that he gave guarantees for the country to his friends and pliant officers without legal basis, as well as those officers who agreed with his instructions and were loyal to him. The lower level of morality, the drunkenness of the population and the status of the colony improved greatly after Grose had left for England on December 17, 1794. However, this improvement was not due to Grose. In all likelihood, the improvement of the situation was the result of improved agricultural methods and thus better coverage of the population after the crisis. Phillip shortened in time of crisis, the food rations of both the military and the convicts on the same scale and distributed loads, while Grose the food rations of the military not shortened during the crisis period, he even improved conditions of its troops to the land purchase.

England

After leaving Australia, he held a number of positions in the army. In 1798 he served in Ireland and 1805 to Gibraltar, where he was promoted to major general. In 1809 he came back to Ireland and rose to the rank of lieutenant general.

The first wife of Grose died in January 1813 and in April 1814, he married Elizabeth Driver, widow of William Paterson. A month later, on May 8, 1814, he died in England.