Thomas Grenville
1790–1796
- William Champion Crespigny
- Samuel Salt
- Sir John Aubrey, 6th Baronet
- Michael Angelo Taylor
1796–1801
1813–1818
1813–1818
- The Duke of Buckingham and Chandos
- William Selby Lowndes
- William Selby Lowndes
- The Duke of Buckingham and Chandos
1782–1782
1800–1846
Wotton Underwood, Buckinghamshire, England[citation needed]
Piccadilly, London, England
- George Nugent-Temple-Grenville, 1st Marquess of Buckingham (brother)
- Charlotte Williams-Wynn (sister)
- William Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville (brother)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/73/Bust_of_Thomas_Grenville%2C_British_Library.jpg/220px-Bust_of_Thomas_Grenville%2C_British_Library.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cb/Arms_of_Thomas_Grenville.svg/220px-Arms_of_Thomas_Grenville.svg.png)
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
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4d/Young-4.jpg/150px-Young-4.jpg)
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
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/60/Thomas_Grenville_%281755-1846%29_NPG.jpg/220px-Thomas_Grenville_%281755-1846%29_NPG.jpg)
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
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- 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.
Further reading
- Payne, J.T., Foss, H. and Rye, W.B. Bibliotheca Grenvilliana. London, 1842–72. Catalogue of Thomas Grenville's library. Copies held by many major scholarly libraries.
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 | Member of Parliament for Buckinghamshire 1779–1784 With: The Earl Verney | Succeeded by |
Preceded by William Champion Crespigny Samuel Salt | Member of Parliament for Aldeburgh 1790–1796 With: Lord Grey of Groby | Succeeded by |
Preceded by | 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 |
Preceded by | Member of Parliament for Buckinghamshire 1813–1818 With: William Selby Lowndes | Succeeded by |
Diplomatic posts | ||
Vacant due to American Revolutionary War Title last held by The Viscount Stormont | British Minister to France 1782 | Succeeded by |
Political offices | ||
Preceded by | President of the Board of Control 1806 | Succeeded by |
Preceded by | First Lord of the Admiralty 1806–1807 | Succeeded by |
Legal offices | ||
Preceded by | Justice in Eyre south of the Trent 1800–1846 | Succeeded by Office Abolished |
- v
- t
- e
- The Earl of Portland
- The Earl of Lindsey
- William Juxon, Bishop of Lincoln
- The Earl of Northumberland
- The Lord Cottington
- Sir Henry Capell
- The Earl of Nottingham
- The Earl of Torrington
- The Earl of Pembroke
- The Lord Cornwallis
- The Viscount Falkland
- The Earl of Orford
- The Earl of Bridgewater
- The Earl of Pembroke
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/98/Royal_Coat_of_Arms_of_the_United_Kingdom_%28HM_Government%29_%28Tudor_Crown%29.svg/100px-Royal_Coat_of_Arms_of_the_United_Kingdom_%28HM_Government%29_%28Tudor_Crown%29.svg.png)
- The Earl of Orford
- Sir John Leake
- The Earl of Strafford
- The Earl of Orford
- The Earl of Berkeley
- The Viscount Torrington
- Sir Charles Wager
- The Earl of Winchilsea
- The Duke of Bedford
- The Earl of Sandwich
- The Lord Anson
- The Earl Temple
- The Earl of Winchilsea
- The Lord Anson
- The Earl of Halifax
- George Grenville
- The Earl of Sandwich
- The Earl of Egmont
- Sir Charles Saunders
- Sir Edward Hawke
- The Earl of Sandwich
- The Viscount Keppel
- The Viscount Howe
- The Viscount Keppel
- The Viscount Howe
- The Earl of Chatham
- The Earl Spencer
- The Earl of St Vincent
- The Viscount Melville
- The Lord Barham
- Viscount Howick
- Thomas Grenville
- The Lord Mulgrave
- Charles Philip Yorke
- The Viscount Melville
- The Duke of Clarence
- The Viscount Melville
- Sir James Graham, Bt
- The Lord Auckland
- The Earl de Grey
- The Lord Auckland
- The Earl of Minto
- The Earl of Haddington
- The Earl of Ellenborough
- The Earl of Auckland
- Sir Francis Baring, Bt
- The Duke of Northumberland
- Sir James Graham, Bt
- Sir Charles Wood, Bt
- Sir John Pakington, Bt
- The Duke of Somerset
- Sir John Pakington, Bt
- Henry Lowry-Corry
- Hugh Childers
- George Goschen
- George Ward Hunt
- William Henry Smith
- The Earl of Northbrook
- Lord George Hamilton
- The Marquess of Ripon
- Lord George Hamilton
- The Earl Spencer
- George Goschen
- The Earl of Selborne
- The Earl Cawdor
- The Lord Tweedmouth
- Reginald McKenna
- Winston Churchill
- Arthur Balfour
- Sir Edward Carson
- Sir Eric Geddes
- Walter Long
- The Viscount Lee of Fareham
- Wood
- Anderson
- Leo Amery
- The Viscount Chelmsford
- The Viscount Bridgeman
- A. V. Alexander
- Sir Austen Chamberlain
- The Viscount Monsell
- Sir Samuel Hoare, Bt
- Duff Cooper
- The Earl Stanhope
- Winston Churchill
- A. V. Alexander
- Brendan Bracken
- A. V. Alexander
- The Viscount Hall
- Lord Pakenham
- Viscount Cilcennin
- The Viscount Hailsham
- The Earl of Selkirk
- The Lord Carrington
- The Earl Jellicoe