George Grenville

George Grenville.

George Grenville (1712 - 1770) was a British lawyer and politician who served as Prime Minister from 1763 to 1765.

Grenville was born on 14 October 1712 in Buckinghamshire, England, the son of Richard Grenville and Hester Temple. He was one of five brothers, all of whom served in the House of Commons. His sister Hester Grenville married William Pitt the Elder and was the mother of William Pitt the Younger. Grenville was educated at Eton College and Christ Church at Oxford. He began his career as a lawyer in 1736 and entered the Commons in 1741 as one of the two members for Buckingham. In Parliament, he opposed the ministry of Sir Robert Walpole and was part of a faction led by Lord Cobham that included himself, his brother Richard Grenville, and William Pitt. He served in the government of Henry Pelham and the Duke of Newcastle from 1744 to 1755, when he and other members of his faction were dismissed for opposing a treaty with Russia.

Newcastle's government fell in 1756, and Pitt's faction came to power under the Duke of Devonshire. Grenville became Treasurer of the Navy, which embittered him with Pitt, since he had expected to receive the more lucrative position of Paymaster of the Forces. When King George III forced Pitt out in 1761, Grenville became Northern Secretary (that is, foreign minister) in the government of the Earl of Bute. Bute grew increasingly unpopular until he was forced to resign in 1763, when Grenville succeeded him as Prime Minister.

Grenville's two main accomplishments as Prime Minister were prosecuting John Wilkes for seditious libel, which caused considerable controvery in Great Britain, and winning passage of the Stamp Act, which caused even more controversy in the American colonies. Grenville was forced to resign in favor of Lord Rockingham in July 1765. Grenville died on 13 November 1770.