William Granville, (1785 – January 1864) was the

Treasurer of Ceylon The Financial Secretary of Ceylon was an officer of the Ceylonese Government and member of the Board of Ministers. The Treasurer of Ceylon was one of six offices that held a seat in the Executive Council of Ceylon from 1809 to 1932. The post wa ...

(now

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

) (1823–1824; 1828–1841), Commissioner of Stamps, and a member of the

Executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dire ...

and Legislative Councils. William Granville was born in England in 1785, the

illegitimate Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally married to each other, and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, ''illegitimacy'', also known as ''b ...

son of

Granville Penn Granville Penn (9 December 1761 – 28 September 1844) was a great-grandson of Admiral Sir William Penn, a British author, and scriptural geologist. Biography He was born 9 December 1761 in Spring Gardens, London, the second surviving son of Th ...

(1761–1844). Granville came out to Ceylon with Sir Thomas Maitland, arriving at Galle on 13 July 1805. He rose steadily in the Service and by 1820 had become Deputy Secretary to the Government. On 5 July 1829 he married Frances née Turnour, the second daughter of the Hon. George Turnour and the niece of Cardinal

Louis-François de Bausset Louis-François de Bausset (14 December 1748 – 21 June 1824) was a French cardinal, writer and member of the Académie française. He was Vicar-General of the Diocese of Aix and Digne before being nominated a bishop. He was nominated Bi ...

of Paris. Granville was the second Englishman to write verse about Ceylon, Captain T. A. Anderson being the first. In 1830 a small book of his verses, ''Poems on Ceylon'', was published in Colombo. Granville was appointed by

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Robert Brownrigg General Sir Robert Brownrigg, 1st Baronet, GCB (8 February 1758 – 27 April 1833) was an Irish-born British statesman and soldier. He brought the last part of Sri Lanka under British rule. Early career Brownrigg was commissioned as an en ...

to escort the deposed King of Kandy,

Sri Vikrama Rajasinha Sri Vikrama Rajasinha ( Sinhala:ශ්‍රී වික්‍රම රාජසිංහ, Tamil:ஸ்ரீ விக்கிரம ராஜசிங்க; 1780 – January 30, 1832, born Kannasamy Nayaka) was the last of four Kings to rule ...

, from

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

. He kept a diary of the voyage, which was published in 1830, with his poems as an appendix. Granville retired in 1841 while holding the appointment of

. Granville and his family returned to England and lived at

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

, where he died in January 1864, at the age of seventy-nine. His remains were brought to St Giles' church, Stoke Poges and interred with the rest of the Penn family.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Granville, William 1785 births 1864 deaths People from British Ceylon Treasurers of Ceylon