George Guy Greville, 4th Earl of Warwick, 4th Earl Brooke (28 March 1818 – 2 December 1893), styled Lord Brooke from 1818 to 1853, was an English

Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...

politician, bibliophile and collector.

Early life

Greville was born in Charles Street,

Berkeley Square Berkeley Square is a garden square in the West End of London. It is one of the best known of the many squares in London, located in Mayfair in the City of Westminster. It was laid out in the mid 18th century by the architect William Kent, ...

, London. He was the only child of

Henry Greville, 3rd Earl of Warwick Henry Richard Greville, 3rd Earl of Warwick, 3rd Earl Brooke, KT (29 March 1779 – 10 August 1853), styled Lord Brooke from 1786 to 1816, was a British Tory politician. Life Warwick was the son of George Greville, 2nd Earl of Warwick, by his ...

, and the former Lady Sarah Elizabeth Savile. Before his parent's marriage, his mother had been widowed from John George Monson, 4th Baron Monson of Burton. From that marriage, he had an elder half-brother, Frederick John Monson, 5th Baron Monson. His paternal grandparents were

George Greville, 2nd Earl of Warwick George Greville, 2nd Earl of Warwick, FRS, FSA (16 September 1746 – 1816), styled Lord Greville until 1773, was a British peer and politician. The eldest son of Francis Greville, 1st Earl Brooke (created Earl of Warwick in 1759), he was bor ...

, and, his second wife, the former Henrietta Vernon (the eldest daughter of

Richard Vernon Richard Evelyn Vernon (7 March 1925 – 4 December 1997) was a British actor. He appeared in many feature films and television programmes, often in aristocratic or supercilious roles. Prematurely balding and greying, Vernon settled into playi ...

and the Countess of Upper Ossory). His maternal grandparents were John Savile, 2nd Earl of Mexborough and the former Elizabeth Stephenson (a daughter of Henry Stephenson). His maternal uncle was John Savile, 3rd Earl of Mexborough, an MP for

Pontefract Pontefract is a historic market town in the City of Wakefield, a metropolitan district in West Yorkshire, England. It lies to the east of Wakefield and south of Castleford. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is one of the ...

. He was educated at

St John's College, Oxford St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its foun ...

, from where he obtained a BA in 1839.

Career

He was Member of Parliament (MP) for

South Warwickshire South Warwickshire was a parliamentary constituency in the county of Warwickshire in England. It returned two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post syste ...

from 1845 to 1853, when he succeeded to the peerage. He served as honorary colonel to the

Warwickshire Yeomanry The Warwickshire Yeomanry was a yeomanry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1794, which served as cavalry and machine gunners in the First World War and as a cavalry and an armoured regiment in the Second World War, before being amalg ...

cavalry, and as A.D.C. to

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

.Burke, Sir Bernard, (1938 ed) ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage''. Shaw, London. p.2519 He joined the

Canterbury Association The Canterbury Association was formed in 1848 in England by Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), members of parliament, Peerage of the United Kingdom, peers, and Anglicanism, Anglican church leaders, to establish a colony in New Zealand. The se ...

on 11 February 1850 and was, from the day of joining, a member of the management committee.

Collector

Lord Warwick was also a prolific contributor to the improvements of

Warwick Castle Warwick Castle is a medieval castle developed from a wooden fort, originally built by William I of England, William the Conqueror during 1068. Warwick is the county town of Warwickshire, England, situated on a meander of the River Avon, Warwic ...

during the nineteenth century. Alongside his artistic wife, Anne Charteris 4th Countess of Warwick, he oversaw the redecoration of the castle's Great Hall and domestic apartments after the fire of 1871. The celebrated architect

Anthony Salvin Anthony Salvin (17 October 1799 – 17 December 1881) was an English architect. He gained a reputation as an expert on Middle Ages, medieval buildings and applied this expertise to his new buildings and his restorations, such as those of the ...

was employed to rebuild the hall in the typical Victorian 'Gothic' taste, embellished with stained glass to achieve the effect of a medieval baronial hall. The domestic apartments were also redesigned, with each room assigned a different 'historical' style, typical of the nineteenth century interest in the 'Romantic Interior'. Known as a prolific collector of books, Lord Warwick established a Shakespeare Library at Warwick Castle with the help of

James Halliwell-Phillipps James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps (born James Orchard Halliwell; 21 June 1820 – 3 January 1889) was an English writer, Shakespearean scholar, antiquarian, and a collector of English nursery rhymes and fairy tales. Life The son of Thomas H ...

during the years 1852–1870. The entire contents of the library was sold after his death in 1897 to the

Folger Shakespeare Library The Folger Shakespeare Library is an independent research library on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., United States. It has the world's largest collection of the printed works of William Shakespeare, and is a primary repository for rare materia ...

, Washington, D.C. Lord Warwick was also a great collector of arms and armour, most of which was purchased through the New Bond Street dealer and forger Samuel Luke Pratt (1805–1878). Many of the greatest pieces were acquired by Pratt from the dispersed collection of

Samuel Rush Meyrick Sir Samuel Rush Meyrick, Royal Guelphic Order, KH (16 August 1783 – 2 April 1848) was an English collector and scholar of arms and armour. He lived at Goodrich Court, Goodrich, Herefordshire, and introduced systematic principles to the stud ...

and later sold to Greville. Alongside original pieces Pratt sold the Earl several Victorian forgeries, a practice that was commonplace for dealers at the time.Boase, F., ''Modern English biography'', 6 vols, 1892–1921

Personal life

On 18 February 1852, he married Lady Anne Charteris (1829–1903), daughter of

Francis Wemyss-Charteris, 9th Earl of Wemyss Francis Wemyss-Charteris, 9th Earl of Wemyss, 5th Earl of March (14 August 1795 – 1 January 1883), was a Scottish peer. Early life Wemyss-Charteris was born 14 August 1795, the son of Francis Douglas, 8th Earl of Wemyss and the former Marga ...

Gosford House Gosford House is a neoclassical country house around northeast of Longniddry in East Lothian, Scotland, on the A198 Aberlady Road, in of parkland and coast. It is the family seat of the Charteris family, the Earls of Wemyss and March. It wa ...

, and the former Lady Louisa Bingham (a daughter of the 2nd Earl of Lucan). Together, they were the parents of five children: *

Francis Greville, 5th Earl of Warwick Francis Richard Charles Guy Greville, 5th Earl of Warwick (9 February 1853 – 15 January 1924), styled Lord Brooke until 1893, was a Conservative Party (UK), British Conservative politician. Early life Greville was the son of George Greville, 4 ...

(1853–1924), who married Frances Evelyn Maynard, daughter of Charles Henry Maynard, in 1881.. * Hon. Alwyn Henry Fulke Greville (1854–1929), who was Equerry-in-Waiting to

Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale (Albert Victor Christian Edward; 8 January 1864 – 14 January 1892) was the eldest child of the Prince and Princess of Wales (later King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra). From the time of his ...

; he married Mabel Elizabeth Georgina Smith OBE (d. 1940), only daughter of Ernald Mosley Smith of Selsdon Park (son of banker George Robert Smith), in 1888. * Hon. Louis Greville (1856–1941), the

High Sheriff of Wiltshire This is a list of the sheriffs and (after 1 April 1974) high sheriffs of Wiltshire. Until the 14th century, the shrievalty was held ''ex officio'' by the castellans of Old Sarum Castle. On 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Go ...

in 1920 who married Lily Gordon (d. 1898), a daughter of J. H. Gordon, in 1887. * Lady Eva Greville (1860–1940), who married Col. Frank Dugdale CVO, second son of James Dugdale of

Wroxall Abbey Wroxall Abbey is a substantial Victorian mansion house situated at Wroxall, Warwickshire which was converted for use as a hotel, spa, wedding venue and conference centre. It is a Grade II listed building. History Built in 1141 by Sir Hugh de ...

, in 1895. * Hon. Sidney Greville (1866–1927), who served as Private Secretary to Queen

Alexandra Alexandra () is a female given name of Greek origin. It is the first attested form of its variants, including Alexander (, ). Etymology, Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; genitive, GEN , ; ...

. He died at

on 2 December 1893.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Warwick, George, 4th Earl Of 1818 births 1893 deaths Alumni of St John's College, Oxford Earls in the Peerage of Great Britain

George George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Gior ...