Frederick B Grotrian
Frederick Brent Grotrian
1838 - 1905
Frederick Brent Grotrian was born in London in 1838, the son of Frederick L C Grotrian. It seems likely that his father was also known as Ludwig a German immigrant and a master mariner. The family is recorded in Rotherhithe in the 1851 census as Ludwig, Amelia, Frederick and Emily Grotrian living at 6 Hambly Place.
By 1861 Grotrain had moved to Hull where he is recorded as a general merchant lodging at 2 Story Street.
In 1863 he married Elizabeth Hunter of Rilling, Yorkshire and they had eight children: Ethel, Hilda, Bessie, Gwendolen, Frederick, Herbert, Harold and Edgar. His son Herbert ( b. 29 Mar 1870, d. 28 Oct 1951) became Sir Herbert Brent Grotrian, Bt.
For some years the family lived at West Hill House in Hessle, where he is recorded in the 1881 and 1891 census returns. He later moved to Ingmanthorpe Hall, near Wetherby but he died on 8th April 1905 and was buried at Kirk Deighton.
Grotrian was a merchant, a ship owner, a journalist and owner/editor of the Hull Daily Mail, a J P and the Conservative M P for East Hull from 1886 – 1892. Bulmer’s Directory of 1892 records him as a seed and grain merchant at 188 High Street Hull, living in Hessle.
1890s photo of West Hill House, the home of Fredercik Brent Grotrian and his family in late nineteenth century.