View source for Richard Grenville (1678–1727)

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2017}}
{{short description|British politician}}
'''Sir Richard Grenville''' (1678 – 17 February 1727) was a [[Kingdom of Great Britain|British]] politician who sat in the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] from 1715 to 1727. Part of the Grenville family that welded great influence during the eighteenth century his descendants have included three [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Ministers]].
==Early life==
[[File:Wotton House 2.jpg|thumb|[[Wotton House]] in Buckinghamshire, the main residence of the Grenville family during Richard's lifetime. His eldest son later inherited [[Stowe House|Stowe]].]]
Grenville was the son of Sir Richard Grenville of [[Wotton House|Wotton]] in Buckinghamshire and his wife Eleanor Temple, daughter of [[Sir Peter Temple, 2nd Baronet|Sir Peter Temple]] of Stantonbury, Buckinghamshire and his wife Eleanor Tyrell.
He married [[Hester Grenville, 1st Countess Temple|Hester Temple]], the daughter of [[Sir Richard Temple, 3rd Baronet]] by a licence of 25 November 1710. Her brother was [[Richard Temple, 1st Viscount Cobham]] whose peerage was entailed upon her and her sons.<ref name=HOP>{{cite web| url = https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1715-1754/member/grenville-richard-1678-1727| title= GRENVILLE, Richard (1678–1727), of Wotton, Bucks.| publisher= History of Parliament Online| accessdate = 9 September 2018}}</ref> 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 (UK Parliament constituency)|Buckinghamshire]] at the [[1715 British general election|1715 general election]] but by an agreement with [[Richard Hampden (died 1728)|Richard Hampden]] he was elected [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Wendover (UK Parliament constituency)|Wendover]] instead. At the [[1722 British general election|1722 general election]] he was returned unopposed as MP for [[Buckingham (UK Parliament constituency)|Buckingham]] on the interest of Lord Cobham.
==Death and legacy==
[[File:George Grenville (1712–1770) by William Hoare (1707-1792).jpg|thumb|Grenville's son [[George Grenville]] served as Prime Minister from 1763 to 1765.]]
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 [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Ministers]] of the United Kingdom. Among his male-line descendants were the future [[Earl Temple|Earls Temple]] and [[Viscount Cobham|Dukes of Buckingham and Chandos]].
His wife Hester inherited the titles of her brother in 1749 and became [[Hester Grenville, 1st Countess Temple|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]]
* [[George Grenville]], [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]] of the UK (1763–65)
* [[James Grenville]], MP
* [[Henry Grenville]], MP and diplomat
* [[Thomas Grenville (Royal Navy officer)|Thomas Grenville]], MP and sailor
A daughter, [[Hester Pitt, Countess of Chatham|Hester]], was the wife of [[Pitt the elder]], also a Prime Minister of the UK. Two of Richard's grandsons, [[Pitt the younger]] and [[William Grenville]], also rose to serve as Prime Minister.
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==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.
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{{s-bef
| before  = [[James Stanhope, 1st Earl Stanhope|James Stanhope]]
| before2 = [[Roger Hill (of Denham)|Sir Roger Hill]]
}}
{{s-title
| title = Member of Parliament for [[Wendover (UK Parliament constituency)|Wendover]]
| years = [[1715 British general election|1715]]–[[1722 British general election|1722]]
| with  =  [[Roger Hill (of Denham)|Sir Roger Hill]]
}}
{{s-aft
| after  = [[Richard Hampden (died 1728)|Richard Hampden]]
| after2 = [[Richard Steele|Sir Richard Steele]]
}}
{{s-bef
| before  = [[Alexander Denton (judge)|Alexander Denton]]
| before2 = [[Edmund Halsey]]
}}
{{s-title
| title = Member of Parliament for [[Buckingham (UK Parliament constituency)|Buckingham]]
| years = [[1722 British general election|1722]]–1727
| with  =  [[Alexander Denton (judge)|Alexander Denton]] 1722
| with2  =  [[Sir William Heathcote, 1st Baronet|William Heathcote]] 1722–1727
}}
{{s-aft
| after  = [[Sir William Heathcote, 1st Baronet|William Heathcote]]
| after2 = [[John Fane, 7th Earl of Westmorland|John Fane]]
}}
{{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grenville, Richard}}
[[Category:1678 births]]
[[Category:1727 deaths]]
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies]]
[[Category:Grenville family|Richard]]
[[Category:British MPs 1715–1722]]
[[Category:British MPs 1722–1727]]
[[Category:Politicians from Buckinghamshire]]
[[Category:Parents of prime ministers of Great Britain]]
{{England-GreatBritain-MP-stub}}