Family and Education

b. 4 Mar. 1631, 4th but 2nd surv. s. of Sir Bevill Granville† of Stowe, Cornw. by Grace, da. of Sir George Smyth of Exeter, Devon.  educ. Angers acad. 1651.  m. lic. 25 Feb. 1664, Anne (d. 1701), da. and h. of Cuthbert Morley of Hawnby, Yorks., 3s. 2da.1

Offices Held

Underkeeper, St. James’s Park 1660–d.; gent. of bedchamber to Duke of Gloucester 1660; equerry of horse Sept. 1660–72; jt. keeper of Petersham Walk, Surr. 1663–d.; groom of bedchamber 1672–88; envoy extraordinary to Florence, Genoa and Savoy 1675–6; jt. surveyor and receiver of green wax fines 1678–9; master of the swans 1683–92; comptroller-gen. of wine licences 1685–90.2

Freeman, Liskeard, Plymouth and Plympton Erle 1685, Portsmouth 1686; recorder, Doncaster 1685–?Oct. 1688.3

Biography

The predominant theme of Granville’s life after 1690 appears to have been a series of lawsuits and petitions whereby he hoped to augment his finances. Granville had acquired by marriage various Yorkshire properties, including copper and silver mines, but the income from these gradually dwindled away. These properties involved him in a lawsuit with Lord Scarsdale over his father-in-law’s Yorkshire estates, worth some £600 p.a., which had been sold under the Commonwealth. This action appears to have been settled in his favour in 1699, after only once impinging on his Commons career: on 6 Feb. 1692 Scarsdale petitioned the House requesting that Granville, ‘having once waived his privilege in a suit, might not have liberty to insist on it again’, but the House gave no ruling. Another long-running Yorkshire suit also ended in his favour in 1699, this time with Christopher Dighton over an ejectment. Under the will of the 2nd Duke of Albemarle (Christopher Monck†) he also inherited lands at Mote Park which had been incorporated into Windsor Great Park and were leased to the crown for £300 p.a. The subsequent disputes over the Albemarle inheritance made him a party to the infamous legal case of Bath v. Montagu, the most protracted and expensive lawsuit of the period. Granville continued to lease Mote Park to the crown, even hoping to sell it to William III in 1700 for a good price by invoking the arrears of his pension. By 1695 these arrears had reached £5,000. In London, Granville resided in Birdcage Walk, his title to which was not questioned, and he purchased a seat at Apps Court in Surrey.4

Granville was returned for Launceston in 1690 on the recommendation of his brother, the Earl of Bath. His career in the Commons was overshadowed by his nephew, Hon. John Granville, and most references in the Journals are to the younger man. Lord Carmarthen (Sir Thomas Osborne†) classed Granville as a doubtful supporter of the Court (or perhaps himself), probably because of the feud between the Osbornes and the Granvilles. In November 1690 Granville lost his place as comptroller-general of the wine licence revenue, a post worth £200 p.a. In April 1691 Robert Harley* listed him as a Court supporter. Granville’s name appeared on many lists of placemen, including one dating from 1692 which appended the query ‘if he hath not a pension’, perhaps an apt question considering its non-payment. Probably because of this Samuel Grascome marked him as a placeman who did not support the Court in a list dating from the spring of 1693, extended to 1695. On 4 Nov. 1692 Granville moved for a new writ for Launceston on the death of William Harbord. Between December 1694 and April 1695 he was listed as a ‘friend’ of Henry Guy*, who was then under attack in the House.5

Transferring to Lostwithiel in 1695, Granville was now entirely alienated from administration. He was forecast as likely to oppose the Court in the division of 31 Jan. 1696 on the proposed council of trade, refused at first to sign the Association, voted in March against fixing the price of guineas at 22s., and voted on 25 Nov. against the attainder of Sir John Fenwick†. He was clearly interested in proposals to establish a national land bank, subscribing £3,000 and becoming a director. He did not stand in 1698, perhaps significantly receiving royal bounty of £200 in the same month as the election. In September he was described as a member of the Court party in a comparative analysis of the old and new Parliaments. Granville died on 14 June 1701 and was buried at Lambeth.6

Ref Volumes: 1690-1715

Authors: Eveline Cruickshanks / Stuart Handley

Notes

• 1. Vivian, Vis. Cornw. 192; R. Granville, Granville Fam. 327, 336, 404, 406.
• 2. CSP Dom. 1660–1, p. 213; 1663–4, p. 75; Cal. Treas. Bks. iii. 1271; v. 795; vi. 121; viii. 124; ix. 873; N. F. Ticehurst, Mute Swan in Eng., 65.
• 3. CSP Dom. 1685, pp. 65, 66, 87; Plymouth Municipal Recs. ed. Worth, 8; R. East, Portsmouth Recs. 368.
• 4. E. Handasyde, Granville the Polite, 5–8, 10, 32; Granville, 404–5; Luttrell Diary, 176; Luttrell, Brief Relation, iv. 510; HMC Lords, n.s. iii. 363–4; E. F. Ward, Christopher Monck, Duke of Albemarle, 339–53; CSP Dom. 1694–5, p. 465; Cal. Treas. Bks. ix. 1594; xv. 93–94.
• 5. Cal. Treas. Bks. ix. 873; Nottingham Univ. Lib. Portland (Bentinck) mss PwA 2392, list of placemen; Luttrell Diary, 214.
• 6. NLS, Advocates’ mss, Bank of Eng. pprs. 31.1.7, ff. 96–99; Cal. Treas. Bks. xiii. 406; Granville, 404–6.