Virginia Grose Young, born Evanston, Illinois on August 31, 1927. Moved to Tucson, Arizona with her family (Mother and two brothers) in the mid-forties after her father Clyde LeClare Grose (b. 1889, Deweyville,Ohio) died in 1942. He was Chairman of the History Department at Northwestern University. Her mother was Carolyn Grose (1889-1981) a 1921 graduate of Northwestern University’s College of Liberal Arts.

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After moving to Tucson, while attending high school and college, she met her future husband Robert DeCourcey Young (1926-1981). After they married in Tucson, they decided to travel to Mexico for their honeymoon in 1954.

They absolutely fell in love with Mexico City and decided to live there. Their four children were born in Mexico City and that’s where they decided to live for the rest of their lives.

 

While in Mexico City, the family became quite active at the Reforma Athletic Club, established in Mexico by the English community, especially in the Tennis Committee.  Robert also became General Director of the oldest commercial firm in Mexico--Watson Phillips y Compañia Succesores, S.A. de C.V.--in 1968. This firm was established in 1824 also by Englishmen seeking good fortune in Mexico.  It represented English banks, insurance companies and imported many goods from around the world, particularly from England.

This is where Virginia’s interest in the British in Mexico started, hence she began  to interview people, take pictures and gather information from many sources throughout the country. She decided to write about them.

She found out that the British and Commonwealth Society would cover the cost of publishing her booklets during the years 1987 to 1993. Nine booklets were written and published. They have been translated into Spanish for the Spanish-speaking readers.

 

Virginia (Mrs. Young) passed away peacefully on Christmas Eve 2024 at age 97.