Henry Francis Greville

Lt-Col. Henry Francis Greville (10 August 1760 – 13 January 1816) was a British impresario.

Early life and military career

He was the son of Member of Parliament Fulke Greville and poet Frances Greville.

In 1777 he was appointed an ensign in the Coldstream Guards, and in 1781 was promoted to lieutenant. Deployed to North America during the American Revolutionary War, he became a prisoner of war (POW) following the British surrender at Yorktown. In May 1782, he was one of 13 POWs forced to draw lots to determine which one should be executed in retaliation for the execution of a patriot captain by Loyalists, in what became known as the Asgill Affair.

In 1790, he was appointed to the 4th Regiment of Dragoon Guards to serve in Ireland as lieutenant-colonel.

Theatrical career

While in the army he became interested in theatricals, and after leaving the army tried to organize professional theatre shows. His first "theatrical fête" was in 1801, and included supper for his friends, intended to mean a picnic, which he intended as a potluck. Based on the success of this venture, he decided to form a Pic-Nic Society the next year, which lasted only one year, although an unsuccessful attempt was made to revive it the following year. In January 1803, he began a weekly newspaper, the ''Pic-Nic'', to report theatrical affairs, which he handed over to William Combe in February.The Argyll Rooms, Little Argyll Street
in the ''Survey of London: Volumes 31 and 32'', originally published by London County Council, London, 1963. Online through British History Online.

In 1803, he purchased the lease on a mansion on Little Argyll Street from Hylton Jolliffe for £70. After making alterations and adding to it, in 1806 he gave two balls, the first of which was on 2 June and was attended by the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cambridge and the Duchess of York. He then borrowed £2,000 from the banker Thomas Coutts and purchased the freehold on the house in July. At first he styled the house "The Fashionable Institution," but later changed the name to the Argyll Rooms.

In 1807, the Lord Chamberlain granted Greville an annual license to host music, dancing, burlettas, and dramatic performances at the Argyll Rooms. The license was renewed the next year, but afterwards, the license was confined to music and dancing. William Taylor, the manager of the King's Theatre in Haymarket, described the first two seasons as: "There was no Stage, beyond a small elevation for the Singers to stand upon, and … no more than four of these were employed in petit pices icof one short Act merely introductory to assemblies and Balls, and … no Dancers were ever seen, confined alone to subscribers for only 12 nights the first year and but 8 the second and last experiment there, and … no money was even taken at the doors."

By 1811, Greville was ill and in deep debt. He tried to sell the Argyll Rooms in 1811. He went abroad in 1812, possibly as a condition of his family helping with his debts, and died on 13 January 1816 in Port Louis, Mauritius.

Personal life

He married Catherine Graham, daughter of Sir Bellingham Graham, in 1793. Following her death in 1803, he married Sophia Lambert, the daughter of James Francis Xavier Whyte, in 1805. Among his children was the admiral Henry Francis Greville.

References

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English theatre managers and producers
Coldstream Guards officers
1760 births
1816 deaths
4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards officers
American Revolutionary War prisoners of war held by the United States
British Army personnel of the American Revolutionary War