He was the son of William Peer Groves, of Springbank,
Pendleton, near
Salford and was educated privately and at
Owen's College,
Manchester. He became chairman and managing director of Groves and Whitnall Limited, owners of the Regent Road Brewery, Salford. Groves was the chairman of the Salford Conservative Association, and when the
Member of Parliament for
Salford South announced his retirement prior to the
1900 general election, he was selected as the party's candidate. He held the seat for the Conservatives. In November 1900 a number of
arsenic poisonings in the Manchester area were traced to beer from the Groves and Whitnall Brewery, and consequently a large amount of the company's stock had to be destroyed. In 1903, he was appointed a
deputy lieutenant of
Cheshire. Groves only served one term in the
Commons, losing his seat to
Hilaire Belloc in the
Liberal landslide at the
1906 general election. He married in 1878, and made his home at Oldfield Hall,
Altrincham,
Cheshire. He died in June 1914 aged 59, after a long illness.{{Cite news| title = Mr. James Grimble Groves: In Memoriam.| newspaper= Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser|page=6 col B| date = 25 June 1914| access-date = 2015-01-09| url = http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000206/19140625/057/0006 == Notes and references ==