The Lancaster & District Male Voice Choir is the 5th oldest in Great Britain. The Choir was founded by Richard  T. Grosse, who was well-known in this area for his singing ability. He was born into a  family which can trace its ancestry back to the 18th century to a part of Germany called ANHALT DESSAU. This was one of the minor German principalities, and the area around DESSAU and LEIPZIG was where the family estates were located. Richard's great-great grandfather was Master of the Horse at the Court of the Grand Duke. This man's son, Leopold Moritz Grosse (1740 to 1825), was highly regarded by the Grand Duke and he bestowed upon Leopold the prestigious Order of Albrecht the Bear, an honour which was given only for meritorious service or particular bravery. Apparently, Leopold bore a scar on his cheek from an encounter with an enraged stag in the forests -- a scar which he carried to the grave.

Leopold married twice, but it is his first wife which interests us. Her name was Henriette Schneider (1747 to 1779), by whom he had two children -- Wilhelmine Christiane Marie and Moritz Wilhelm (1778 to 1844). The British branch of the family comes from Moritz Wilhelm.

Moritz Wilhelm was Master of the Forests, was an intimate friend of the Crown Prince, and he was obviously destined for high office within the State. Unfortunately, one incident put paid to this.  One of Moritz's servants was set upon by another Court Official and his retinue. They said that the servant was wearing a uniform which was an insult to the State, thereby criticising the behaviour of Moritz himself. Moritz was outraged that his honour had been besmirched, so he issued a challenge to the rival official. This challenge was ignored so he set out to find the gentleman and set about him with a horsewhip. Such an action could not go unpunished and the sentence was banishment from the State.His was disowned by his father so he left Germany and came to London.

Moritz lived in HALLE where he went into partnership with an Englishman in a music shop, but the venture was not a success. However, this time coincided with the Napoleonic forces across Western Europe so he went to Belgium where he became a commissioner in the Napoleonic Army. In the siege of FLUSHING he was taken prisoner and sent back to England as a prisoner-of-war -- manacled and forced to feed from buckets. After he had been registered, he was sent to ASHBY-de-la-ZOUCH.

Following his release in 1807, he went to London once more and tried to enlist in the army of the Duke of Cumberland, but (probably because of his previous affiliations) he was refused. So once again Moritz resorted to his other pursuit - music- and he became a music teacher on the periphery of the Court. In 1812, he married a lady called Maria Thurston (1786 to 1878),the daughter of John Thurston of Attleborough in Suffolk They had six children, four girls and two boys. The elder of the two boys was christened William John Thurston Grosse and he, in time, married Susanna Scholl and they had ten children, six girls and four boys. The youngest boy, who was born in 1855, was christened Richard Thomas Grosse, and this brings us to the man who was to become our founder and first conductor of the Lancaster Male Voice Choir.

Richard was born in the town of OVER in Cheshire on the 18th of October 1855. He was endowed with a beautiful alto voice and at the age of nine he joined the choir at the Chapel Royal, Windsor. He sang on many occasions before Queen Victoria and members of the Royal Family. He  also sang solo's at the weddings of some of  the Royal Princesses.