George Grant Francis
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George Grant Francis (10 January 1814–21 April 1882) was a Welsh antiquary and civic leader born in Swansea
George Grant Francis can be seen as a product of the cross-pollination that took place on various levels between Devon/Cornwall and south Wales in the nineteenth century. During the period, the Bristol Channel became an important artery that transported cargo and people from one place to another, creating prosperous Anglo-Welsh communities with new, especially urban identities. Swansea was a classic case in point, and it was to this town that John Francis, George's father, came from Bridgwater in 1811.[1] As an apprentice-served coachmaker, John Francis flourished in the rapidly-urbanising Swansea of the early nineteenth century,[2] serving a newly minted clientele of industrialists, merchants, professionals and civic leaders. After marrying Mary Grant, the couple's eldest child, George, was born in January 1814.
He was educated at the Swansea high school. His younger brother John Deffett Francis was a famous Victorian painter.
Antiquarian work
The abiding passion of Grant Francis's life was his love of history - especially that of Swansea and its environs. He was elected F.S.A. 16 January 1845, was its honorary secretary for South Wales, and was also a corresponding member of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and of the Welsh Manuscripts Society.
He was entrusted by the town council with the restoration and arrangement of their neglected muniments. The preservation and restoration of Oystermouth Castle, near Swansea—one of the many ancient ruins pertaining to the house of Beaufort, lords of Gower and Kilvey—were also owing to his exertions, for which he was presented with a piece of plate.
Later life
Francis took a prominent part in local issues. His numerous schemes for improvements tended to be weak financially. He was active in restoring to public use the ancient grammar school of Bishop Gore, of which he was many years chairman and one of the trustees. In 1851 Francis was selected to represent the Swansea district as local commissioner at the Great Exhibition. The same year the British Association appointed him secretary to its department of ethnology when holding its meeting at Swansea.
He was mayor of the borough in 1854, and was also Lieutenant-Colonel of the 1st Glamorganshire Artillery Volunteers, a corps raised by his exertions in 1859.
Francis died at his town house, 9 Upper Phillimore Place, Kensington, 21 April 1882 aged 68, and was buried on the 26th in his wife's family tomb at Danygraig Cemetery, Swansea. By his marriage in 1840 to Sarah, eldest daughter of John Richardson of Swansea, and of Whitby Lodge, Northumberland, he left three sons.
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