| • Science | • People | • Locations | • Timeline |
The son of Prime Minister George Grenville, Grenville entered the Commons in 1782 and soon became a close ally of Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger, serving in the government as Paymaster of the Forces from 1784 to 1789. In 1789, Grenville entered the Cabinet as Home Secretary, and became Leader of the House of Lords when he was raised to the peerage the next year as Baron Grenville. The next year, in 1791, he succeeded the Duke of Leeds as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. Grenville's decade as Foreign Secretary was a dramatic one, seeing the Wars of the French Revolution. During the war, Grenville was the leader of the party that focused on the fighting on the continent as the key to victory, opposing the faction of Henry Dundas which favored war at sea and in the colonies. Grenville left office with Pitt in 1801 over the issue of Catholic Emancipation.
In his years out of office, Grenville became close to the opposition Whigs leader Charles James FoxThe Right Honourable Charles James Fox ( January 24, 1749 September 13, 1806) was an English politician. He was the third son of Henry Fox, 1st Baron Holland, one of the older generation self-aggrandizing Whigs. His mother was Lady Caroline Lennox, daught, and when Pitt returned to office in 1804Events January 1 End of French rule in Haiti June 15 The Twelfth Amendment to the U. Constitution ratified by New Hampshire, and arguably becomes effective (subsequently vetoed by the Governor of New Hampshire) July 27 The Twelfth Amendment to the U., Grenville did not take part. Following Pitt's death in 1806Events January 8 Cape Colony becomes a British colony January 10 Dutch in Cape Town surrender to the British January 19 The United Kingdom occupies the Cape of Good Hope March 23 After traveling through the Louisiana Purchase and reaching the Pacific Ocea, Grenville became the head of the " Ministry of all The Talents ", a coalition between Grenville's supporters, the Foxite Whigs, and the supporters of former Prime Minister Lord SidmouthHenry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth . May 30, 1757 February 15, 1844) was a British statesman, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom) from 1801 to 1804. Henry Addington, the son of the Earl of Chatham's physician, was a childhood friend of Chatham's son, with Grenville as First Lord of the TreasuryThe First Lord of the Treasury is the head of the commission exercising the ancient office of Lord High Treasurer in the United Kingdom, usually but not always the Prime Minister. The Lords of the Treasury Beginning in the 17th Century, the Treasury was f and Fox as Foreign Secretary as joint leaders. Grenville's younger brother, Thomas GrenvilleThomas Grenville ( 1755- 1846), was a British politician and bibliophile. Grenville was the son of George Grenville, a British prime minister. He was, with one interval, a member of parliament from 1780 to 1810, and for a few months during 1806 and 1807 P, served briefly as First Lord of the Admiralty. The Ministry ultimately accomplished little, failing either to make peace with France or to accomplish Catholic emancipation (the later attempt resulting in the ministry's dismissal in March, 1807). It did have one significant achievement, however, in the abolition of the slave trade in 1807.
In the years after the fall of the ministry, Grenville continued in opposition, maintaining his alliance with Lord Grey and the Whigs, criticizing the Peninsular War and, with Grey, refusing to join Lord Liverpool's government in 1812. In the post-war years, Grenville gradually moved back closer to the Tories, but never again returned to the cabinet. His political career was ended by a stroke in 1823. Grenville also served as Chancellor of Oxford University from 1810 until his death in 1834.