Sir Richard Grenville (1678 – 17 February 1727) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

from 1715 to 1727. Part of the Grenville family that welded great influence during the eighteenth century his descendants have included three

Prime Ministers A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but rat ...

Early life

Grenville was the son of Sir Richard Grenville of Wotton in Buckinghamshire and his wife Eleanor Temple, daughter of Sir Peter Temple of Stantonbury, Buckinghamshire and his wife Eleanor Tyrell. He married Hester Temple, the daughter of

Sir Richard Temple, 3rd Baronet Sir Richard Temple, 3rd Baronet, Order of the Bath, KB (28 March 1634 – 8 May 1697) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons of England, House of Commons at various times between 1654 and 1697. Life Temple was the son of Si ...

by a licence of 25 November 1710. Her brother was

Richard Temple, 1st Viscount Cobham Field Marshal Richard Temple, 1st Viscount Cobham, (24 October 1675 – 14 September 1749) was a British army officer and Whig politician. After serving as a junior officer under William III during the Williamite War in Ireland and during th ...

whose peerage was entailed upon her and her sons. This cemented the close link between the two Buckinghamshire families. After his death Grenville's sons would join the Cobham's Cubs political faction led by his brother-in-law.

Political career

Grenville was proposed as Whig candidate for

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

at the 1715 general election but by an agreement with

Richard Hampden Richard Hampden (baptized 13 October 1631 – 15 December 1695) was an English Whig politician and son of Ship money tax protester John Hampden. He was sworn a Privy Counsellor in 1689 and was Chancellor of the Exchequer from 18 March 1690 un ...

he was elected Member of Parliament for

Wendover Wendover is a town and civil parish at the foot of the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire, England. It is situated at the point where the main road across the Chilterns between London and Aylesbury intersects with the once important road along t ...

instead. At the 1722 general election he was returned unopposed as MP for

Buckingham Buckingham ( ) is a market town in north Buckinghamshire, England, close to the borders of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire, which had a population of 12,890 at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census. The town lies approximately west of ...

on the interest of Lord Cobham.

Death and legacy

Grenville died on 17 February 1727 in the last year of that parliament and his children were taken care of by his brother-in-law Lord Cobham. He was the father, father-in-law and grandfather of various

of the United Kingdom. Among his male-line descendants were the future Earls Temple and

Dukes of Buckingham and Chandos Duke of Buckingham, referring to the market town of Buckingham, England, is an extinct title that has been created several times in the peerages of Peerage of England, England, Peerage of Great Britain, Great Britain, and the Peerage of the Uni ...

. His wife Hester inherited the titles of her brother in 1749 and became 1st Countess Temple in her own right. Richard and Hester were the parents of six sons and a daughter. Five sons served in parliament: *

Richard Grenville-Temple, 2nd Earl Temple Richard Grenville-Temple, 2nd Earl Temple, KG, PC (26 September 1711 – 12 September 1779) was a British politician and peer who served as Lord Privy Seal from 1757 to 1761. He is best known for his association with his brother-in-law Willia ...

George Grenville George Grenville (14 October 1712 – 13 November 1770) was a British Whig statesman who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain, during the early reign of the young George III. He served for only two years (1763-1765), and attempted to solv ...

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

of the UK (1763–65) * James Grenville, MP * Henry Grenville, MP and diplomat * Thomas Grenville, MP and sailor A daughter, Hester, was the wife of

Pitt the elder William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham (15 November 170811 May 1778) was a British Whig statesman who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1766 to 1768. Historians call him "Chatham" or "Pitt the Elder" to distinguish him from his son Wi ...

, also a Prime Minister of the UK. Two of Richard's grandsons,

Pitt the younger William Pitt (28 May 1759 – 23 January 1806) was a British statesman who served as the last prime minister of Great Britain from 1783 until the Acts of Union 1800, and then first prime minister of the United Kingdom from January 1801. He left o ...

and

William Grenville William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville (25 October 175912 January 1834) was a British Pittite Tory politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1806 to 1807, but was a supporter of the Whigs for the duration of the N ...

, also rose to serve as Prime Minister.

References

Bibliography

* Johnson, Allen S. A prologue to revolution: the political career of George Grenville (1712–1770). University Press of America, 1997. * Lawson, Phillip. ''George Grenvile: A Political Life''. University of Manchester Press, 1984. 1678 births 1727 deaths Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'st ...

British MPs 1715–1722 British MPs 1722–1727 Politicians from Buckinghamshire Parents of prime ministers of Great Britain {{England-GreatBritain-MP-stub