George Grenville
| The Right Honourable George Grenville |
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| In office 16 April 1763 – 13 July 1765 |
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| Monarch | George III |
| Preceded by | The Earl of Bute |
| Succeeded by | The Marquess of Rockingham |
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| In office 16 April 1763 – 16 July 1765 |
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| Monarch | George III |
| Preceded by | Sir Francis Dashwood, 2nd Bt. |
| Succeeded by | William Dowdeswell |
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Northern Secretary
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| In office 27 May 1762 – 9 October 1762 |
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| Prime Minister | Lord Bute |
| Preceded by | Lord Bute |
| Succeeded by | The Earl of Halifax |
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| Born | 14 October 1712 Westminster, London |
| Died | 13 November 1770 (aged 58) London |
| Political party | Whig |
| Alma mater | Christ Church, Oxford |
George Grenville (14 October 1712 – 13 November 1770) was a British Whig statesman who rose to the position of Prime Minister of Great Britain. Grenville was born into an influential political family and first entered Parliament in 1741 as an MP for Buckingham. He emerged as one of Cobham's Cubs, a group of young MPs associated with Lord Cobham.
In 1754 Grenville became Treasurer of the Navy, a position he held twice until 1761. In October 1761 he chose to stay in government and accepted the new role of Leader of the Commons causing a rift with his brother-in-law and political ally William Pitt who had resigned. Grenville was subsequently made Northern Secretary and First Lord of the Admiralty by the new Prime Minister Lord Bute.
In 1763 Grenville succeeded Bute as Prime Minister. His government tried to bring public spending under control and pursued an assertive foreign policy. His best known policy is the Stamp Act 1765 which provoked widespread opposition in Britain's American colonies and was later repealed. Grenville had increasingly strained relations with his colleagues and the King and in 1765 he was dismissed by George III and replaced by Lord Rockingham. For the last five years of his life Grenville led a group of his supporters in opposition and staged a public reconciliation with Pitt.
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Early life
George Grenville was born at Wotton House on 14 October 1712. He was the second son of Richard Grenville and Hester Temple (later the 1st Countess Temple). He was one of five brothers, all of whom became MPs. His sister Hester Grenville married leading political figure William Pitt. His elder brother was Richard Grenville, later the 2nd Earl Temple. It was intended by his parents that George Grenville should become a lawyer.[1] Grenville received his education at Eton College and at Christ Church, Oxford, and was called to the bar in 1736.
Politics
Patriot Whigs
He entered Parliament in 1741 as member for Buckingham, and continued to represent that borough for the next twenty nine years until his death. He was disappointed to be giving up what appeared to be a promising legal career for the uncertanties of opposition politics.[2]
In Parliament he suscribed to the "Boy Patriot" party which opposed Sir Robert Walpole. In particular he enhoyed the patronage of Lord Cobham, the leader of a faction that included George Grenville, his brother Richard, William Pitt and George Lyttelton that became known as Cobham's Cubs.
Joins Administration
In December 1744 he became a Lord of the Admiralty in the administration of Henry Pelham. He allied himself with his brother Richard and with William Pitt (who became their brother-in-law in 1754) in forcing Pelham to give them promotion by rebelling against his authority and obstructing business. In June 1747, Grenville became a Lord of the Treasury.
In I754 Grenville was made a Treasurer of the Navy and Privy Councillor. Along with Pitt and several other colleagues he was dismissed in 1755 after speaking and voting against the government on a debate about a recent subsidy treaty with Russia.
He and Pitt joined the opposition, haranguing the Newcastle government. Grenville and Pitt both championed the formation of a British militia to provide additional security rather than the deployment of Hessian mercenaries favoured by the government.[3] As the military situation deteriorated following the loss of Minorca, the government grew increasingly weak until it was forced to resign in Autumn 1756.
In Government with Pitt
Pitt then formed a government led by the Duke of Devonshire. Grenville was returned to his position as Treasurer of the Navy, which was a great disappointment as he had been expecting to receive the more prestigious and lucrative post of Paymaster of the Forces.[4] This added to what Grenville regarded as a series of earlier slights in which Pitt and others had passed him over for positions in favour of men he considered no more talented than he was. From then on Grenville felt a growing resentment towards Pitt, and grew closer to the young Prince of Wales and his advisor Lord Bute who were both now opposed to Pitt.[5]
In 1758, as Treasurer of the Navy, he introduced and carried a bill which established a fairer system of paying the wages of seamen and supporting their families while they were at sea which was praised for its humanity if not for its effectiveness.[6] He remained in office during the years of British victories, notably the Annus Mirabilis of 1759 for which the credit went to the government of which he was a member. However his seven year old son died after a long illness and Grenville remained by his side at their country house in Wooton and barely came to London.[7]
In 1761, when Pitt resigned upon the question of the war with Spain, and subsequently functioned as Leader of the House of Commons in the administration of Lord Bute. Grenville's role was seen as an attempt to keep someone closely associated with Pitt involved in the government, in order to prevent Pitt and his supporters actively opposing the government. However, it soon led to conflict between Grenville and Pitt. Grenville was also seen as a sutiable candidate because his reputation for honesty meant he commanded loyalty and respect amongst independent MPs.[8]
Northern Secretary
In May 1762, he was appointed Northern Secretary, where he took an increasingly hard-line in the negotiations with France and Spain designed to bring the Seven Years War to a close. Grenville demanded much greater compensation in exchange for the return of British conquests, while Bute favoured a more generous position which eventually formed the basis of the Treaty of Paris. In spite of this, Grenville had now become associated with Bute rather than his former political allies who were even more vocal in their opposition to the peace treaty than he was. In October he was made in First Lord of the Admiralty. Henry Fox took over as leader of the commons, and forced the peace treaty through parliament.
Bute's position grew increasingly untenable as he was extremely unpopular, which led to him offering his resignation to George III on several occasion. With reluctance George III eventually accepted Bute's resignation and accepted that Grenville should be his successor, in spite of his personal dislike of him. In April 1763, Grenville became First Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer succeeding Bute as first Minister after Henry Fox had rejected the job.
Prime Minister
Grenville's most immediate task was to restore the nation's finances which had been depleted by the unprecedent expense of the recent war. He also had to deal with the fall-out from Pontiac's Rebellion, which erupted in North America in 1763. Prominent measures of his administration included the prosecution of John Wilkes and the passing of the American Stamp Act 1765, which led to the first symptoms of alienation between American colonies and Great Britain.
Stamp Act
Foreign policy
In disputes with Spain and France, Grenville managed to secure British objectives by deploying what was later described as gunboat diplomacy.[9] During his administration Britain's international isolation increased, as Britain failed to secure alliances with other major European powers, a situation that subsequent governments were unable to reverse leading to Britain fighting several countries during the American War of Independence without a major ally.
Dismissal
The King made various attempts to induce Pitt to come to his rescue by forming a ministry, but without success, and at last had recourse to Lord Rockingham. When Rockingham agreed to accept office, the king dismissed Grenville in July 1765. He never again held office.
The nickname of "gentle shepherd" was given him because he bored the House by asking over and over again, during the debate on the Cider Bill of 1763, that somebody should tell him "where" to lay the new tax if it was not to be put on cider. Pitt whistled the air of the popular tune Gentle Shepherd, tell me where, and the House laughed.[10] Though few surpassed him in a knowledge of the forms of the House or in mastery of administrative details, he lacked tact in dealing with people and with affairs.
Later career
After a period of active opposition to the Chatham Ministry led by Pitt between 1766, and 1768 Grenville became an Elder statesman during his last few years - seeking to avoid becoming associated with any faction or party in the House of Commons.[11] He was able to oversee the re-election of his core group of supporters in the 1768 General Election. His followers included Robert Clive and Lord George Sackville and he received support from his elder brother Lord Temple.
In late 1768 he reconciled with Pitt and the two joined forces, re-uniting the partnership that had broken up in 1761 when Pitt had resigned from the government.[12] Grenville was successful in mobilising the opposition during the Middlesex election dispute. Although personally opposed to Wilkes, Grenville saw the government's attempt to bar him from the commons as unconstitutional and opposed it on principal. In 1770 Grenville steered a bill concerning the results of contested elections, a major issue in the eighteenth century, into law - despite strong opposition from the government.[13]
Grenville died on 13 November 1770. His personal following divided after his death, with a number joining the government of Lord North. In the long-term the Grenvillites were revived by William Pitt the younger who served as Prime Minister from 1784. Grenville's own son, William Grenville, later served briefly as Prime Minister.
Legacy
He was one of the few prime ministers (others include William Pitt the Younger, Sir Winston Churchill, George Canning, Spencer Percival, William Ewart Gladstone, Edward Heath, John Major, and Tony Blair) who never acceded to the peerage.
Family life
In 1749 Grenville married Elizabeth Wyndham (before 1731-5 December 1769), daughter of Sir William Wyndham, by whom he had seven children:
- Charlotte Grenville (c. 1754-29 September 1830), who married Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 4th Bt. (1759–1789) on 21 December 1771 and had three children.
- George Nugent-Temple-Grenville, 1st Marquess of Buckingham, the father of the 1st Duke of Buckingham and Chandos
- Thomas Grenville, a Member of Parliament and book-collector
- Elizabeth Grenville (24 October 1756-21 December 1842), who married the 1st Earl of Carysfort (12 August 1751-7 April 1828) on 12 April 1787 and had three daughters.
- William Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville, who himself later became Prime Minister.
- Catherine Grenville (1761-6 November 1796), who married Richard Griffin (3 June 1751-28 February 1825), later the 2nd Baron Braybrooke, on 19 June 1780 and had four children.
- Hester Grenville (before 1767-13 November 1847), who married the 1st Earl Fortescue on 10 May 1782 and had issue.
Styles from birth to death
- Mr. George Grenville (1712–1741)
- Mr. George Grenville, MP (1741–1749)
- The Hon. George Grenville, MP (1749–1754)
- The Rt. Hon. George Grenville, MP (1754–1789)
See also
- Grenvillite
References
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (Eleventh ed.). Cambridge University Press.- The Grenville Documents, being the Correspondence of Richard Grenville, Earl Temple, K.G., and the Right Hon. George Grenville, their Friends and Contemporaries, were published at London in 1852, and afford the chief authority for his life. But see also Horace Walpole's Memoirs of the Reign of George II (London, 1845); Lord Stanhope's History of England (London, 1858); Lecky's History of England (1885); and ED Adams, The Influence of Grenville on Pitt's Foreign Policy (Washington, 1904).
Bibliography
- Anderson, Fred. Crucible of War: The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754-1766. Faber and Faber, 2000.
- Black, Jeremy. Pitt the Elder. Cambridge University Press, 1992.
- Brown, Peter Douglas. William Pitt, Earl of Chatham: The Great Commoner. George Allen & Unwin, 1978.
- Johnson, Allen S. A prologue to revolution: the political career of George Grenville (1712–1770) . University Press of America, 1997.
- Lawson, Phillip. George Grenville: A political life. Oxford University Press, 1984.
- Thomas, Peter David Garner George III: king and politicians, 1760-1770. Manchester University Press, 2002.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Henry Legge |
Treasurer of the Navy 1756 |
Succeeded by George Dodington |
| Preceded by George Dodington |
Treasurer of the Navy 1756 – 1762 |
Succeeded by The Viscount Barrington |
| Preceded by William Pitt the Elder |
Leader of the House of Commons 1761 – 1762 |
Succeeded by Henry Fox |
| Preceded by The Earl of Bute |
Secretary of State for the Northern Department 1762 |
Succeeded by The Earl of Halifax |
| Preceded by The Earl of Halifax |
First Lord of the Admiralty 1762 – 1763 |
Succeeded by The Earl of Sandwich |
| Preceded by The Earl of Bute |
Prime Minister of Great Britain 16 April 1763 – 13 July 1765 |
Succeeded by The Marquess of Rockingham |
| Preceded by Sir Francis Dashwood, 2nd Bt |
Chancellor of the Exchequer 1763 – 1765 |
Succeeded by William Dowdeswell |
| Preceded by Henry Fox |
Leader of the House of Commons 1763 – 1765 |
Succeeded by Henry Seymour Conway |
| Parliament of Great Britain | ||
| Preceded by George Chamberlayne Richard Grenville |
Member of Parliament for Buckingham with George Chamberlayne 1741–1747 Richard Grenville 1747–1753 Temple West 1753–1754 James Grenville 1754–1768 Henry Grenville 1741 – 1770 |
Succeeded by Henry Grenville James Grenville |
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