Hon. Ronald Henry Fulke Greville MVO (14 October 1864 – 5 April 1908) was an English

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

politician. He was

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for Bradford East from 1896 to 1906.

Early life

Greville was born 14 October 1864 the eldest of four children of politician Algernon Greville, 2nd Baron Greville (1841–1909) and the writer Lady Beatrice Violet Graham. His paternal grandparents were

Fulke Greville-Nugent, 1st Baron Greville Colonel Fulke Southwell Greville-Nugent, 1st Baron Greville (17 February 1821 – 25 January 1883), known as Fulke Greville until 1866, was an Irish Liberal politician. Early life Greville was the second son of Algernon Greville, Esq., of North L ...

and his wife, Lady Rosa Nugent (the only daughter and heir of the

George Nugent, 1st Marquess of Westmeath George Thomas John Nugent, 1st Marquess of Westmeath (17 July 1785 – 5 May 1871), styled Lord Delvin between 1792 and 1814 and known as The Earl of Westmeath between 1814 and 1821, was an Anglo-Irish peer. Background Nugent was born in Clo ...

). His maternal grandparents were

James Graham, 4th Duke of Montrose James Graham, 4th Duke of Montrose, KT, PC (16 July 1799 – 30 December 1874), styled Marquess of Graham until 1836, of Buchanan Castle in Stirlingshire (re-built by him in 1852–8) and 45 Belgrave Square in London, was a British Conserva ...

and the former Hon. Caroline Agnes Horsley-Beresford (third daughter of

John Horsley-Beresford, 2nd Baron Decies John Beresford, 2nd Baron Decies (20 January 1774 – 1 March 1865) was an Irish peer and clergyman. His father, the 1st Baron Decies was son of Marcus Beresford, 1st Earl of Tyrone and Catherine de Poer, Countess of Tyrone. Early life Beresfor ...

Career

Margaret Greville photographed on 5 October 1900

Greville was educated at

Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. Up ...

and entered the Army, at first in the 3rd (Militia) Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and then the 1st Life Guards. Greville resigned his commission as a captain in 1896 when he was elected as a

Political career

Greville first stood for

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

at the 1895 general election, as an unsuccessful candidate in the

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

-held Barnsley division of the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

. After the death of Henry Byron Reed, the Conservative MP for the Eastern division of

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

, Greville was selected as the Conservative candidate for the resulting by-election in November 1896. He won the contest, and was re-elected in

1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15), 2 ...

, holding the seat until he retired from the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

at the 1906 general election.

Personal life

On 25 April 1891, he married Margaret Helen Anderson (1863–1942). Margaret was the illegitimate daughter of

William McEwan William McEwan () (16 July 1827 – 12 May 1913) was a Scottish politician and brewer. He founded the Fountain Brewery in 1856, served as a member of parliament (MP) from 1886 to 1900, and funded the construction of the McEwan Hall at the Univ ...

, a multimillionaire brewer (later elected as an MP for Edinburgh Central) and his mistress, Helen Anderson, a cook who married McEwan after her first husband's death in 1885.Davenport-Hines 2015. After their marriage, they lived at

Polesden Lacey Polesden Lacey is an Edwardian house and estate, located on the North Downs at Great Bookham, near Dorking, Surrey, England. It is owned and run by the National Trust and is one of the Trust's most popular properties. This Regency house was exp ...

, in

Great Bookham Great Bookham is a village in Surrey, England, one of six semi-urban spring line settlements between the towns of Leatherhead and Guildford. With the narrow strip parish of Little Bookham, it forms part of the Saxon settlement of ''Bocham'' ("the ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, a gift from his wife's father. On 5 April 1908, when Greville was 43, he died from pneumonia following an operation, predeceasing his own father and never acceding to the peerage. As Ronald had no children, after his father's death the following December 1909, his younger brother Charles became the 3rd Baron Greville. He was High Sheriff of Westmeath in 1899.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Greville, Ronald 1864 births 1908 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1895–1900 UK MPs 1900–1906 Politicians from Bradford Heirs apparent who never acceded Deaths from pneumonia in the United Kingdom People educated at Rugby School Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders officers British Life Guards officers Members of the Royal Victorian Order

Ronald Ronald is a masculine given name derived from the Old Norse ''Rögnvaldr'',#H2, Hanks; Hardcastle; Hodges (2006) p. 234; #H1, Hanks; Hodges (2003) § Ronald. or possibly from Old English ''Regenweald''. In some cases ''Ronald'' is an Anglicised ...

Eldest sons of British hereditary barons High Sheriffs of County Westmeath