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Lady Edwina Grosvenor

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Lady Edwina Grosvenor
DL
Born
Edwina Louise Grosvenor

(1981-11-04) 4 November 1981 (age 44)
Eaton Hall, Cheshire, England
Occupations
  • Criminologist[1]
  • philanthropist
  • prison reformer
Spouse
​
(m. 2010)​
Children3
Parents

Lady Edwina Louise Grosvenor DL (born 4 November 1981) is an English criminologist, philanthropist and prison reformer. She is a founder and a trustee of the charity The Clink, and founder of the charity One Small Thing. She is the sister of Hugh Grosvenor, 7th Duke of Westminster.

Early life and education

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Lady Edwina Louise Grosvenor was born at the family seat of Eaton Hall, Cheshire, on 4 November 1981.[2] She is the daughter of the 6th Duke of Westminster and Natalia Ayesha Phillips.[3] Through her mother, she is descended from the Romanov imperial family of Russia and the Russian writer Alexander Pushkin, as well as from the latter's great-grandfather – African tribal chief turned Russian nobleman Abram Petrovich Hannibal.[4] Grosvenor's godmother was Diana, Princess of Wales.[5] She went to a private school, Ellesmere College, in Shropshire.[2][6] At the age of 12, she was taken to a Liverpool rehabilitation centre, where she was introduced to heroin addicts and became interested in helping society's unseen people.[7] At age 15, she volunteered at a homeless shelter run by the charity Save the Family.[8] She spent her gap year working in a prison in Kathmandu before studying criminology at Northumbria University.[2] She studied criminal behaviour at Edith Cowan University in Perth, Australia.[9] In August 2021, Grosvenor graduated from Solent University with a master's degree in criminology and crime scene management, achieving a distinction.[10]

Career

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Prison reform

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During her time in Nepal, Grosvenor worked for The Esther Benjamins Trust, now Child Rescue Nepal, a UK-registered charity which works to have children removed from prison, where they were held when their parents were convicted of crimes.[11] She also worked at the Central Jail in Kathmandu.[7] Lady Edwina commissioned research by the Corston Coalition into the needs of women offenders,[10][12] set up in the wake of the 2007 report by Jean Corston, Baroness Corston. She spent a year as a support worker at Cheshire's HM Prison Styal,[13] then worked in HM Prison Garth in Lancashire, helping with the restorative justice program.[13] She sits on the advisory board for Female Offenders under the Secretary of State for Justice[11][14] and, from 2007 to 2010, was an advisor to James Jones, then Bishop of Liverpool and Bishop to Her Majesty's Prisons.[2][10][15] In 2009, Grosvenor became the founding investor of The Clink, a charity that identifies the training and support needed for prisoners to find jobs following release.[10][16] The Clink restaurant, a fine-dining training restaurant, opened in HM Prison High Down in 2009.[6] She served as a trustee of the charity from 2011 to 2018, and then as one of its ambassadors[17] She also works with Pathways, a London-based community regeneration program that helps to create sustainable businesses run by former offenders.[2]

In 2014, Grosvenor presented the BBC Radio 4 Charity Appeal for the Prisoners' Advice Service.[18][19] In 2015, she visited Ellesmere College and delivered a speech about prison reform and rehabilitation.[6] She founded One Small Thing, a charity that seeks to understand the trauma within the prison system and raise awareness of how compassion and respect can prevent women from re-offending.[10][20] One Small Thing trains prison staff about trauma, helps them change their behaviour to protect women inmates, and develops trauma services within prisons.[21] Grosvenor founded the Becoming Trauma Informed programme across the Female Prison Estate in England and Wales.[21] In September 2017, One Small Thing collaborated with the Rumi Foundation to research women's prisons around the country.[20] In 2018, One Small Thing was awarded the Howard League for Penal Reform's Criminal Justice Champion Award.[22]

Grosvenor became a member of the advisory board to the Centre for Criminology in the Faculty of Law at the University of Oxford,[10] and, in 2020, donated £90,000 to the University of Oxford to fund the Death Penalty Research Unit.[23]

Grosvenor worked on a project called Hope Street, a healing residential community alternative for women who were in custody prior to sentencing or already served their sentences alongside their children.[8][24] The programme was monitored by the University of Southampton, The Prison Reform Trust and EP:IC.[25]

In March 2022, Grosvenor became High Sheriff of Hampshire for a one-year term.[26] She was appointed a deputy lieutenant of Hampshire in 2025.[27]

Recognition

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In July 2018, Grosvenor was awarded an honorary fellowship of Liverpool John Moores University for her contribution to public life.[28]

Personal life

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Grosvenor married television presenter Dan Snow on 27 November 2010. The couple were married by the Bishop of Liverpool, James Jones, at his official residence, Bishop's Lodge.[29] They have three children.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b Hunt, Julia (7 June 2019). "'Highbrow heart-throb' Dan Snow honoured for services to history". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 10 July 2022. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e Levin, Angela (1 October 2013). "Lady Edwina Grosvenor: 'I see my wealth as a gift that I should put to good use'". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on 10 July 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  3. ^ "Lady Edwina Grosvenor – Latest news, opinion, advice, pictures, video – Cheshire Live". cheshire-live.co.uk. 17 October 2018. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  4. ^ "Descendant Of Pushkin And The Romanovs Becomes World's Youngest Billionaire". rbth.com. 12 August 2016. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  5. ^ "BBC News | UK | Diana's godchildren remembered". news.bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 10 July 2022. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
  6. ^ a b c "Lady Edwina Grosvenor inspires sixth formers at former school | Ellesmere College | A 7–18 Co-educational School – Shropshire & North Wales School/College". ellesmere.com. Archived from the original on 10 July 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  7. ^ a b "The Duke's daughter: I went into my first prison at 18. It's been a love affair ever since". The Times. 20 May 2013. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 29 December 2018.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  8. ^ a b "Philanthropy: Lady Edwina Grosvenor on prison reform". Lux. 7 May 2021. Archived from the original on 30 August 2022. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  9. ^ "Lady Edwina Grosvenor | Centre for Mental Health". centreformentalhealth.org.uk. Archived from the original on 10 July 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  10. ^ a b c d e f "Edwina Grosvenor". One Small Thing. Archived from the original on 10 July 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  11. ^ a b "Year Here – Lady Edwina Grosvenor". Year Here. Archived from the original on 10 July 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  12. ^ House of Commons Justice Committee (2013). Women offenders : after the Corston Report : second report of session 2013–14. Stationery Office. ISBN 9780215060075. OCLC 857281085.
  13. ^ a b James, Erwin (25 September 2012). "Edwina Grosvenor: the lady who can't leave jail". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 10 July 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  14. ^ "Advisory Board on Female Offenders". GOV.UK. Archived from the original on 10 July 2022. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
  15. ^ "Lady Edwina Grosvenor". Liverpool John Moores University. Archived from the original on 30 August 2022. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  16. ^ "THE CLINK — OUR STORY". The Clink Charity. Archived from the original on 10 July 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  17. ^ "THE CLINK CHARITY APPOINTS NEW TRUSTEES AND AMBASSADOR". The Clink Charity. 7 August 2018. Archived from the original on 10 July 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  18. ^ "BBC Radio 4 – Radio 4 Appeal, Prisoners' Advice Service". BBC. Archived from the original on 10 July 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  19. ^ "Prisoners' Advice Service". Prisoners’ Advice Service. Archived from the original on 10 July 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  20. ^ a b "Prisons reform with Lady Edwina Grosvenor". The Rumi Foundation. Archived from the original on 10 July 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  21. ^ a b "About". One Small Thing. Archived from the original on 10 July 2022. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  22. ^ "The Howard League | 2018 Community Awards Winners". The Howard League. Archived from the original on 10 July 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  23. ^ "Lady Edwina Grosvenor donates three years of funding for the 'Death Penalty Research Unit'". Faculty of Law, University of Oxford. 6 May 2020. Archived from the original on 15 July 2022. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  24. ^ Patel, Jaanki (1 December 2021). "Police and Crime Commissioner Visit to Hope Street". One Small Thing. Archived from the original on 30 August 2022. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  25. ^ Henni, Janine (27 June 2023). "Kate Middleton Opens New Community for Women in the Justice System — and Leaves a Handwritten Note!". People. Archived from the original on 14 February 2024. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
  26. ^ Aitken, Catriona (31 March 2022). "New High Sheriff of Hampshire sworn in at Winchester Crown Court". Basingstoke Gazette. Archived from the original on 12 July 2022. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  27. ^ "No. 64644". The London Gazette. 30 January 2025. p. 1578.
  28. ^ "LJMU announces Honorary Fellowships for July Graduation". ljmu.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 3 July 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  29. ^ Administrator, chesterchronicle (22 July 2013). "Lady Edwina Grosvenor marries TV presenter and historian Dan Snow". Cheshire Live. Retrieved 27 December 2025.
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