Thomas Grenville

The Right Honourable
Thomas Grenville
The Right Honourable Thomas Grenville
	Thomas Grenville (picture)
President of the Board of Control
	In office; 1806–1806
Monarch	George III
Prime Minister	The Lord Grenville
Preceded by	The Earl of Minto
Succeeded by	George Tierney
First Lord of the Admiralty
	In office; 1806–1807
Monarch	George III
Prime Minister	The Lord Grenville
Preceded by	The Earl Grey
Succeeded by	The Earl of Mulgrave
Member of Parliament for Buckinghamshire
	In office; 1779–1784
Preceded by	The Earl Verney; The Marquess of Buckingham;
Succeeded by	The Lord Grenville; Sir John Aubrey, 6th Baronet;
Member of Parliament for Aldeburgh
	In office; 1790–1796
Preceded by	William Champion Crespigny; Samuel Salt;
Succeeded by	Sir John Aubrey, 6th Baronet; Michael Angelo Taylor;
Member of Parliament for Buckingham
	In office; 1796–1801
Preceded by	Sir George Nugent, 1st Baronet; The Lord Bridport;
Succeeded by	Parliament of the United Kingdom
	In office; 1813–1818
Preceded by	Parliament of Great Britain
Succeeded by	The Lord Braybrooke; The Lord Nugent;
Member of Parliament for Buckinghamshire
	In office; 1813–1818
Preceded by	The Duke of Buckingham and Chandos; William Selby Lowndes;
Succeeded by	William Selby Lowndes; The Duke of Buckingham and Chandos;
British Minister to France[citation needed]
	In office; 1782–1782
Preceded by	Vacant due to American Revolutionary War Title last held by The Earl of Mansfield
Succeeded by	The Lord St Helens
Justice in Eyre south of the Trent
	In office; 1800–1846
Preceded by	The Lord Sydney
Succeeded by	Office abolished
Personal details
Born	31 December 1755; Wotton Underwood, Buckinghamshire, England[citation needed]
Died	17 December 1846 (aged 90); Piccadilly, London, England
Political party	Whig
Parents	George Grenville; Elizabeth Wyndham;
Relatives	George Nugent-Temple-Grenville, 1st Marquess of Buckingham (brother); Charlotte Williams-Wynn (sister); William Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville (brother);
Alma mater	Eton College

Thomas Grenville PC (31 December 1755 – 17 December 1846) was a British politician and bibliophile.

Background and education

Grenville was the second son of Prime Minister George Grenville and Elizabeth Wyndham, daughter of Sir William Wyndham, 3rd Baronet. George Nugent-Temple-Grenville, 1st Marquess of Buckingham, was his elder brother and William Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville, his younger brother. He was educated at Eton.

Career

In 1778, he was commissioned ensign in the Coldstream Guards and in 1779 promoted a lieutenant in the 80th Regiment of Foot, but resigned his commission in 1780. He was, with one interval, a member of parliament from 1780 to 1810, and for a few months during 1806 and 1807 President of the Board of Control (1806) and then First Lord of the Admiralty (1806–1807). In 1798, he was sworn of the Privy Council.

On 1 February 1799 Grenville and a party were travelling on HMS Proserpine when she was wrecked near Scharhörn off the Elbe. She was trying to deliver Grenville and his party to Cuxhaven, from where they were to proceed on a diplomatic mission to meet Frederick William III of Prussia in Berlin during the War of the Second Coalition. Proserpine was stuck in ice in worsening weather. At 1:30, on 2 February, all 187 persons on Proserpine left her and started the six-mile walk to the island Neuwerk, in freezing weather and falling snow. Seven seamen, a boy, four Royal Marines, and one woman and her child died; the rest made it to safety in the tower of Neuwerk. The diplomatic party reached Cuxhaven on 6 February to continue to Berlin via Hamburg and return to London on 23 March.^[2]^[3]

Library

Dedication to Grenville in volume I of *A Course of Lectures on Natural Philosophy and the Mechanical Arts*, by Thomas Young (1807)

He began collecting books from at least his early twenties, and by his death had amassed 20,240 volumes containing 16,000 titles. The collection is notable for its many editions of Homer, Aesop and Ariosto, for early travel books, and for literature in the Romance languages. Rare volumes include a vellum copy of the Gutenberg Bible, which Grenville bought in France in 1817 for 6,260 francs, a Mainz Psalter and a Shakespeare First Folio. There are also 59 manuscripts. Grenville liked his books to be in excellent condition, and would often have books washed or rebound, as well as seeking out relevant pages to add to any incomplete copies he owned. He lent books widely, Barry Taylor describing his library as apparently "semi-public". He bequeathed the collection to the British Museum, of which he had become a trustee in 1830, and it is now housed in the King's Library Tower in the British Library.^[4]^[5]^[6]

Personal life

Grenville died at Piccadilly, London, in December 1846, aged 90. He never married.

Citations

^ "British Armorial Bindings". The Bibliographical Society of London. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
^ Hepper (1994), p.90.
^ Dr. F. Voigt, „Aus dem Fremdenbuche vom Thurm zu Neuwerk“, Mitteilungen des Vereins für Hamburgische Geschichte Band 10 (1888) p. 127, Verein für Hamburgische Geschichte
^ Taylor, Barry (2009). "Thomas Grenville (1755–1846) and His Books". In Mandelbrote, Giles; Taylor, Barry (eds.). Libraries within the Library: the Origins of the British Library's Printed Collections. British Library. pp. 321–340. ISBN 978-0-7123-5035-8.
^ British Library, Named collections of printed materials (G) Retrieved 22 December 2011
^ British Library, The copy on vellum – provenance Retrieved 22 December 2011

References

British Historical Facts 1760–1830, by Chris Cook and John Stevenson (The Macmillan Press 1980)
Hepper, David J. (1994). British Warship Losses in the Age of Sail, 1650–1859. Rotherfield: Jean Boudriot. ISBN 0-948864-30-3.

External links

Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Thomas Grenville
Biography
British Library's description of the Grenville Library
The Grenville Library copy of the Gutenberg Bible. Select the 'vellum copy' option to see images of the Grenville Library copy.

Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by The Earl Verney George Grenville	Member of Parliament for Buckinghamshire 1779–1784 With: The Earl Verney	Succeeded by Sir John Aubrey, 6th Bt William Grenville
Preceded by William Champion Crespigny Samuel Salt	Member of Parliament for Aldeburgh 1790–1796 With: Lord Grey of Groby	Succeeded by Sir John Aubrey, 6th Bt Michael Angelo Taylor
Preceded by George Nugent The Lord Bridport	Member of Parliament for Buckingham 1796–1801 With: George Nugent	Succeeded by Parliament of the United Kingdom
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Parliament of Great Britain	Member of Parliament for Buckingham 1801–1810 With: George Nugent 1801–1802 Lord William Proby 1802–1804 Lord Carysfort 1805–1806 Earl Percy 1806 Sir William Young, 2nd Bt 1806–1807 Sir John Borlase Warren, 1st Bt 1807 Richard Griffin 1807–1810	Succeeded by Richard Griffin Lord George Grenville
Preceded by Earl Temple William Selby Lowndes	Member of Parliament for Buckinghamshire 1813–1818 With: William Selby Lowndes	Succeeded by William Selby Lowndes Earl Temple
Diplomatic posts
Vacant due to American Revolutionary War Title last held by The Viscount Stormont	British Minister to France 1782	Succeeded by Alleyne Fitzherbert
Political offices
Preceded by The Lord Minto	President of the Board of Control 1806	Succeeded by George Tierney
Preceded by Viscount Howick	First Lord of the Admiralty 1806–1807	Succeeded by The Lord Mulgrave
Legal offices
Preceded by The Viscount Sydney	Justice in Eyre south of the Trent 1800–1846	Succeeded by Office Abolished

[1] "British Armorial Bindings". The Bibliographical Society of London. Retrieved 5 October 2017.

[2] Hepper (1994), p.90.

[3] Dr. F. Voigt, „Aus dem Fremdenbuche vom Thurm zu Neuwerk“, Mitteilungen des Vereins für Hamburgische Geschichte Band 10 (1888) p. 127, Verein für Hamburgische Geschichte

[4] Taylor, Barry (2009). "Thomas Grenville (1755–1846) and His Books". In Mandelbrote, Giles; Taylor, Barry (eds.). Libraries within the Library: the Origins of the British Library's Printed Collections. British Library. pp. 321–340. ISBN 978-0-7123-5035-8.

[5] British Library, Named collections of printed materials (G) Retrieved 22 December 2011

[6] British Library, The copy on vellum – provenance Retrieved 22 December 2011

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