Groves, Memoirs of Lord Congleton, 1884, pp. 12-18, 38-46, 61). After a land journey, on 6 Dec. he entered Bagdad, where he took up his residence as a teacher of Christianity unconnected with any sect or denomination. He helped the poor with his surgical knowledge, established an Arabic school, and made attempts at the conversion of the Jewish residents. In 1831, his second year in Bagdad, the plague appeared, and in two months half the population were swept away, including his own wife, who died on 14 May. In June Bagdad was besieged by the pasha of Mosul acting for the pasha of Aleppo, and Groves, then ill with typhus fever, was in danger of his life from the soldiers. In April 1833 he left Bagdad for Bombay, and made a voyage along the western coast of India, visiting the missionary stations. In November he journeyed inland to Pallamacottah, and after inspecting the Tinnevelly mission, in December found himself at Ootacamund in the Neilgherry hills. In 1834 he went to Trichinopoly and Jaffna, and returning to the continent of India, journeyed along the eastern coast to Madras. He landed in England in December 1834, and on 25 April 1835 was married at Malvern to Harriet, third daughter of General Edward Baynes of Woolbrook Cottage, Sidmouth. The object of Groves's visit to England was to persuade persons to proceed to India as missionaries, and having secured the services of several, he quickly followed them and landed in India on 7 July 1836. He then spent a year in Madras, practising his profession as a dentist, and was afterwards for many years steadily employed in carrying out his great work of christianising the native population. He again came to England, 20 March 1848, and in the following year returned to India for the last time. By 1852 his health had failed, and going on board ship he landed at Southampton on 25 Sept. He died at 21 Paul Street, Bristol, the residence of his friend George Müller, on 20 May 1853, and was buried in Arno's Vale cemetery. His conversational powers were of a high order, and his preaching was very successful, while his conduct under trying circumstances was brave and consistent. His sons, Henry and Edward Groves, conducted a sugar factory at Seringapatam.
His 'Journal of a Journey from London to Bagdad' and 'Journal of a Residence at Bagdad during 1830-1,' were edited by A. J. Scott and appeared in 1831 and 1837 respectively.
[Memoir of A. N. Groves, compiled by his widow (1856); Missionary Reporter, London, November 1853, pp. 63-4 ; Contemporary Review, October 1885, pp. 542-3.]
GROVES, JOHN THOMAS (d. 1811), architect, first appears as an exhibitor at the Royal Academy in 1778 and 1780, as 'John Groves, jun.,' of Millbank Street, Westminster, sending in each case views of Westminster Abbey and surrounding buildings. A view of Westminster Abbey by Groves, drawn in 1779, was subsequently engraved by J. Collyer. He resided in Italy for about ten years between 1780 and 1790. After returning to Westminster, he sent some Italian subjects to the Royal Academy in 1791 and 1792. On 17 June 1794 he was appointed clerk of the works at St. James's, Whitehall, and Westminster, under the board of works, succeeding Sir John Soane [q. v.] In this capacity he made the arrangements in the Chapel Royal, Whitehall, for the christening of Princess Charlotte in 1796. In 1807 Groves was appointed architect to the General Post Office, and was also surveyor to the first commissioners for the improvements at Westminster round St. Margaret's Church. Groves had considerable private practice as an architect. Among other works executed by him may be mentioned the baths at Tunbridge Wells and the Nelson monument on Portsdown Hill. He died of a paralytic stroke, 24 Aug. 1811, at his house in Great Scotland Yard, leaving a son and three daughters. He owned some freehold property at Great Marlow, Buckinghamshire.
[Dict. of Architecture; Redgrave's Dict. of Artists; Graves's Dict. of Artists, 1760-1880.]
GROZER, JOSEPH (fl. 1784–1798), mezzotint engraver, is stated to have been born about 1755. He was an able engraver in mezzotint, and executed many plates after Sir Joshua Reynolds, Romney, and others, which are much esteemed. Among his earliest known engravings are 'The Young Shepherdess,' published in 1784, and 'The Theory of Design,' 1785, both after Reynolds. Grozer resided at 8 Castle Street, Leicester Square, and published some of his prints himself. About 1798 most of his plates appear in other hands, so that he probably died about that date. Among his mezzotint engravings may be noted 'Master Braddyll,' 'Frederick, Viscount Duncannon,' 'Henrietta, Viscountess Duncannon,' 'Hon. Frances Harris (with a dog),' 'Lord Loughborough,' and others, after Reynolds; 'James, Earl of Cardigan,' 'Abraham Newland,' after Romney; 'Morning, or the Benevolent Sportsman,' 'Evening, or the Sportsman's Return,' and others after G. Morland; 'The Duke and Duchess of York,' after Singleton; 'Euhun Sang Lum Akao,' a Chinese, after H. Danloux, and many others.
