James Grimston, 2nd Earl of Verulam

James Walter Grimston, 2nd Earl of Verulam (20 February 1809 – 27 July 1895), known as Viscount Grimston from 1815 to 1845, was a British peer and Conservative politician.

Verulam was the eldest son of James Walter Grimston, 1st Earl of Verulam, and Lady Charlotte Jenkinson. He was elected to the House of Commons for St Albans in 1830, a seat he held until 1831, and then represented Newport, Cornwall from 1831 to 1832 and Hertfordshire from 1832 to 1845. The latter year Verulam succeeded his father in the earldom and entered the House of Lords. He later served in the first two administrations of the Earl of Derby as a Lord-in-Waiting (government whip in the House of Lords) in 1852 and from 1858 to 1859. Between 1845 and 1892 he also held the honorary post of Lord Lieutenant of Hertfordshire, in succession to his father.

Lord Verulam married Elizabeth Joanna Weyland, daughter of Richard Weyland, in 1844. They had six children:

Lady Harriot Elizabeth Grimston (c.1845 – 15 August 1888), married Maj.-Gen. Francis Harwood Poore on 6 March 1885
Lady Jane Grimston (12 December 1848 – 2 November 1920), married Sir Alfred Jodrell, 4th Baronet on 25 February 1897
James Walter Grimston, 3rd Earl of Verulam (1852–1924)
Cmdr. Hon. William Grimston (7 January 1855 – 10 May 1900)
Lady Maud Grimston (c.1857 – 3 September 1929), married Maj. Paulyn Rawdon-Hastings, son of the 1st Baron Donington and the 10th Countess of Loudoun, and had issue
Canon Hon. Robert Grimston (18 April 1860 – 8 July 1928), married Gertrude Villiers and had issue, including the Conservative politician Robert Grimston, 1st Baron Grimston of Westbury.

Lord Verulam died in July 1895, aged 86, and was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son James.

[edit] References

Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990.
Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page
www.thepeerage.com

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Christopher Smith John Easthope	Member of Parliament for St Albans with Charles Tennant 1830–1831	Succeeded by Sir Francis Vincent Richard Godson
Preceded by Jonathan Raine Sir Henry Hardinge	Member of Parliament for Newport, Cornwall with Sir Henry Hardinge 1831–1832	Succeeded by Constituency abolished
Preceded by Sir John Saunders Sebright Nicolson Calvert	Member of Parliament for Hertfordshire with Sir John Saunders Sebright 1832–1835 Nicolson Calvert 1832–1835 Abel Smith 1835–1845 Rowland Alston 1835–1841 Granville Dudley Ryder 1841–1845 1832–1845	Succeeded by Abel Smith Granville Dudley Ryder Thomas Plumer Halsey
Political offices
Preceded by ?	Lord-in-Waiting 1852	Succeeded by The Lord Camoys
Honorary titles
Preceded by The Earl of Verulam	Lord Lieutenant of Hertfordshire 1846–1892	Succeeded by The Earl of Clarendon
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by James Walter Grimston	Earl of Verulam 1845–1895	Succeeded by James Walter Grimston