Burns also wrote the verses 'Ken ye ought o' Captain Grose?' and a rather coarse 'Epigram on Captain Francis Grose.' The 'Antiquities of Scotland' was published by Grose in 1789-91, London, 2 vols. 4to. In the spring of 1791 he set out for an antiquarian tour in Ireland, but died on 12 May of that year from an apoplectic fit while at dinner in the house of his friend Nathaniel Hone, at Dublin. The 'St. James's Evening' for 26 May suggested the epitaph 'Here lies Francis Grose … Death put an end to his Views and Prospects.' He was buried on 18 May in Drumcondra Church, near Dublin.
The 'Antiquities of Ireland' begun by him was published, with additions, by his friend Dr. Edward Ledwich, London, 1791-5, 2 vols. 4to. Grose's other publications are:
- 'The Antiquarian Repertory,' 1775, 4to (originally compiled by Grose; new ed., with continuations, 4 vols. 1807, &c.)
- 'Advice to the Officers of the British Army,' 1782, 8vo; reprint of the 6th London edition, New York, 1867, 8vo (attributed also to Captain Williamson and to Lord Townshend, but apparently by Grose).
- 'A Guide to Health, Beauty, Riches, and Honour,' 1783, 8vo; 1796, 8vo.
- 'A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue,' 1785, 8vo; 1788, 8vo; 1796, 8vo; reissued as 'Lexicon Balatronicum. A Dictionary of Buckish Slang, University Wit, and Pickpocket Eloquence,' 1811, and edited by Pierce Egan [q. v.], 1823.
- 'Military Antiquities respecting a History of the English Army from the Conquest to the Present Time,' London, 1786-8, 2 vols. 4to; also London, 1801, 4to; and 1812, 4to.
- 'A Treatise on Ancient Armour,' &c., with supplement, London, 1786-9, 4to (plates from the armour in the Tower, &c.)
- W. Darrell's 'History of Dover Castle,' edited and illustrated by Grose, 1786, 4to and 8vo.
- 'A Provincial Glossary' (local proverbs and superstitions), London, 1787, 8vo; 1790, 8vo.
- 'Rules for Drawing Caricatures,' 1788, 8vo; French translation, Paris, 1802, 8vo.
- 'The Grumbler' (sixteen essays), London, 1791.
- 'The Olio' (essays, dialogues, &c.), London, 1793, 8vo; 1796, 8vo (posthumous, probably only partially by Grose). Parodies of Milton and Homer, often attributed to Grose, were probably by Thomas Bridges [q. v.]
Grose was a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries (elected 31 March 1757), and contributed to the 'Archæologia,' v. 237, 'On an Ancient Fortification at Christchurch, Hants,' and viii. 111, 'On Ancient Spurs.' Some of his letters to George Allan, F.S.A., and to William Hutchinson, the antiquary, are printed in Nichols's 'Literary Anecdotes,' viii. 691 f., and 'Literary Illustrations,' i. 447 f.
Grose has been described as a sort of antiquarian Falstaff. He was immensely corpulent, full of humour and good nature, and 'an inimitable boon companion' (Noble, Hist. of the College of Arms, pp. 434-8; Gent. Mag. 1791, vol. lxi. pt. ii. p. 660.) There is a full-length portrait of him, drawn by N. Dance and engraved by F. Bartolozzi, at the beginning of his 'Antiquities of England,' vol. i. 1st ed. (for other portraits, see Noble, pp. 436-7; and Gent. Mag. 1791, vol. lxi. pt. i. pp. 493-494). Grose lived chiefly at Mulberry Cottage, Wandsworth Common (Brayley, Surrey, iii. 499). He married Catherine, daughter of Mr. Jordan of Canterbury, by whom he had two sons and five daughters. The eldest son, Colonel Francis Grose, was deputy-governor of Botany Bay (Notes and Queries, 6th ser. ii. 47, 257, 291).
[Gent. Mag. 1791, vol. lxi. pt. i. pp. 492-4, 581, pt. ii. p. 660; Noble's Hist. of College of Arms, pp. 434-8; Nichols's Lit. Anecd. iii. 656-9, and see indices; Nichols's Lit. Illustr., references in index in viii. 47; Redgrave's Dict. of Artists; W. West's Fifty Years' Recollections of an Old Bookseller, p. 77 ff.; Notes and Queries, 1st ser. ix. 350, 3rd ser. i. 64, xi. 280-1, 5th ser. xii. 148; Hone's Every-day Book, i. 655.]
GROSE, JOHN (1758–1821), divine, baptised on 26 Feb. 1758 at Richmond, Surrey, was the eldest son of John Henry Grose [q. v.] of Richmond, by his wife, Sarah Smalley, daughter of John Browning, wool-stapler, of Barnaby Street, Southwark (Richmond Register). The name in the register is spelt, as originally, 'Grosse.' Grose matriculated at St. Mary Hall, Oxford, on 29 May 1783, but did not graduate (Foster, Alumni Oxon. 1715-1886, p. 572). He afterwards received the degree of M.A. He took orders and obtained at various times several small preferments in the church. He was minister of the Tower; lecturer of St. Olave, Southwark; curate of the united parishes of St. Margaret Pattens and St. Gabriel, Fenchurch Street; Wednesday evening lecturer of St. Antholin, Budge Lane; rector of Netteswell, Essex; and lecturer of St. Benet, Gracechurch Street. He was also chaplain to the Countess Dowager of Mexborough. He died at the rectory, Little Tower Street, London, in 1821, his estate being administered to on 14 March of that year by his widow, Anna Carter Eugenia Grose (Administration Act Book, P. C. C., 1821). He was twice married: his first wife, Anne, died in 1787 (Gent. Mag. 1787, pt. ii. p. 837). Besides various sermons, issued singly and in volumes, he published by subscription in 1782 a volume entitled 'Ethics, Rational and Theological, with cursory Reflections on the General Principles of Deism,'
