John Granville (1628 - 1701)

Born 29 Aug 1628 in Kilkhampton, Stratton, Cornwall, England

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 22 Aug 1701 at age 72 in St James, London, England

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Biography

Sir John Granville was a member of the aristocracy in England.

Sir John Grenvile, Baron Granville of Kilkhampton and Bideford, Viscount Granville of Lansdown and Earl of Bath^[1]

John Grenville was born at Stowe, Kilkhampton, Cornwall, England, on 29 August 1628.^[2][3]

John was the third but oldest surviving son of Sir Bevil Grenville (Bevill Grenvile)^[4] and his wife, Grace Smythe, the daughter of Sir George Smythe alias Smith of Madford, Heavitree, Exeter.^{[3] [5]} His father, described as "the generally most loved man" in Cornwall, was knight of the shire for Cornwall in 1621 and 1625, then represented Launceston in 1625, 1626, 1628–9 and 1640.^[5]

John had siblings:

1. Richard Grenvile, born at Tremeere in Lanteglos by Foye on 19 March 1621,^[6] dead by 1641;^[7]
2. Bevil Grenvile, born 23 June 1626,^[6] died 1636;^[7]
3. Bernard Grenvile, born 20 March 1630/1,^[6] later Granville, Groom of the Bedchamber,^[8] died 1701, married Anne, the daughter of Cuthbert Morley of Hornby, Yorkshire;^[9]
4. George Grenvile, born 22 August 1632,^[6] died young;^[7]
5. Denis Granville formerly Grenville (spelling changed 1685), born 13 February 1636/7 at Kilkhampton, Cornwall, died in Fossée St Victoire, Paris, on 18 April 1703, his parents' third surviving son, dean of Durham and nonjuring Church of England clergyman, married at Auckland St Andrew on 16 September 1662 Anne (died 12 October 1691), the youngest daughter of John Cosin, bishop of Durham;^[8]
6. Roger, died young;^[7]
7. Elizabeth, married to Peter Prideaux, Esq, on 17 November 1645;^[6]
8. Grace, married Colonel Robert Forescue;^[7]
9. Bridget, married 1) Sir Simon Leach, of Cadeley, and 2) Sir Thomas Higgons, Kt;^[7]
10. Catherine, died 1632;^[7]
11. Joana, married Colonel Richard Thornhill;^[7]
12. Mary, died in her infancy;^[7]

Sir Bevil, John's father, raised a troop of horse and joined the Charles I's army in the first bishops' war. While fighting with the Cornish army at the battle of Lansdown, near Bath, on 5 July 1643, he was struck on the head with a pole-axe and died the next day at Cold Ashton parsonage. He was buried at Kilkhampton, North Cornwall, on 26 July.^[5]

John, educated at home in what was described as "a kind of academy for all young men of family in the country", held a commission in his father's regiment by November 1642.^[3] Not quite 15 at his father's death in 1643, he succeeded him as head of the family, and was knighted on 3 August that year in Bristol. During the second battle of Newbury on 27 October 1643, John was seriously wounded. In 1645, he was appointed gentleman of the bedchamber to Charles, Prince of Wales, later King Charles II of England.^[3]

Circa October 1652, John married Jane, the daughter of Sir Peter Wyche, a London merchant and former comptroller of the royal household.^[3]

John and Jane had children:

1. Lady Jane Grenville, born circa 1653, died 1697, married Sir William Leveson-Gower, fouth baronet, of Stittenham, Yorkshire;^[10]
2. Charles Granville, second Earl of Bath, committed suicide two weeks after his father's death,^[3] baptised 31 August 1661, shot himself on 4 September 1701, married 1) by licence dated 22 May 1678, Lady Martha, the daughter of Sir Thomas Osborne, first Duke of Leeds, and 2) on 10 March 1691, Isabella, the daughter of Henry de Nassau, first Lord of Auberquerque, Count of Nassau,^[11] and was succeeded by his son:
   1. john, third earl of Bath, died aged 19 of smallpox on 17 May 1711;^[11] or William Henry Granville, third Earl of Bath, died 1711;^[7]
3. John Granville, second son, born 12 April 1665, died 3 December 1707, buried at St Clement Danes, created Baron Granville of Potheridge on 13 March 1703, married 15 April 1703 Rebecca, the daughter of Sir Josiah Child, first Baronet, of Wanstead, Essex, and the widow of Charles Somerset, Marquess of Worcester;^[12]
4. Lady Grace Granville, born circa 1667, died 1744, married George Carteret, first Baron Carteret,^[13] Countess Granville and Viscountess Carteret;^[7]
5. Bevill, died 1706;^[7]
6. Henrietta, died 1690;^[7]
7. Catherine, married Craven Peyton, esq;^[7]
8. Mary, died young;^[7]
9. Bridget, died young;^[7]

After the restoration of King Charles II, John received many rewards for his clandestine support: in 1660 he was appointed groom of the stole, keeper of St James's Palace, steward of the duchy of Cornwall and its castles, steward of the borough of Bradninch, warden of the stannaries, lord lieutenant of Cornwall; and the rider and master of Dartmoor; in 1661 he was governor of Plymouth and created earl of Bath on 20 April; in 1663 he was added to the privy council; from April to July 1665 he was lord lieutenant of Ireland; and in 1680 he was governor of Pendennis. John and the earl of Feversham were the only peers present at Charles II's deathbed conversion to Catholicism in February 1685.^[3]

John was commander of the 10th regiment of foot, lord-lieutenant of Devon and Cornwall and governor of Plymouth and of the Isles of Scilly. Loyal to King James II of England until the invasion by William prince of Orange, when John switched allegiance surrendering Plymouth to William on 19 November 1688.^[3]

John Granville, first earl of Bath, died in St James' London, on 22 August 1701, and was buried with his oldest son and heir, Charles, in the family vault at Kilkhampton on 22 September.^[3]

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Sources

1. ↑ Roger Granville, The History of the Granville Family : Traced Back to Rollo, First Duke of Normandy with Pedigrees, etc, (Exeter: W Pollard & Co, 1895), iv, Internet Archive (https://archive.org/stream/historyofgranvil00gran#page/n13/mode/2up : accessed 29 May 2016).
2. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N53T-ZWL : 11 February 2018, John Grenvile, 29 Aug 1628); citing KILKHAMPTON,CORNWALL,ENGLAND, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 897,356.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8} Victor Stater, ‘Grenville, John, first earl of Bath (1628–1701)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 (Subscription required : accessed 29 May 2016).
4. ↑ England & Wales, Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858 (ancestry.com), Will of The Right Honourable John Earl of Bath Viscount of Lansdowne and Baron of Granville Bideford and Kilkhampton, dated 11 October 1684, codicil dated 15 August 1701, proved 10 September 1701, mentions: "me the said John Earl of Barthe by the name of John Grenvile sonn and heire of Sr Bevile Grenvile late of Stowe in the County of Cornwall knight"
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2} Anne Duffin, ‘Grenville , Sir Bevil (1596–1643)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 (Subscription required : accessed 29 May 2016).
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4} J L Vivian and Henry H Drake, eds, "The Visitation of the County of Cornwall, in the year 1620", The Publications of the Harleian Society, IX, (London, 1874). 86. Internet Archive (https://archive.org/stream/visitationofcoun09stge#page/86/mode/2up : accessed 29 May 2016).
7. ↑ ^{7.00 7.01 7.02 7.03 7.04 7.05 7.06 7.07 7.08 7.09 7.10 7.11 7.12 7.13 7.14 7.15} The History of the Granville Family, Pedigree, Internet Archive (https://archive.org/stream/historyofgranvil00gran#page/n575/mode/1up : accessed 29 May 2016).
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1} William Marshall, ‘Granville , Denis (1637–1703)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 (Subscription required : accessed 29 May 2016).
9. ↑ Eveline Cruickshanks, ‘Granville, George, Baron Lansdowne and Jacobite duke of Albemarle (1666–1735)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 (Subscription required : accessed 29 May 2016).
10. ↑ Richard Wisker, ‘Gower, John Leveson-, first Baron Gower (1675–1709)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 (Subscription required : accessed 29 May 2016).
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1} Paula Watson, ‘GRANVILLE (GRENVILLE), Charles, Lord Lansdown (1661-1701)’, The History of Parliament, Crown copyright and The History of Parliament Trust, 1983 (http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1660-1690/member/granville-%28grenville%29-charles-1661-1701 : accessed 29 May 2016).
12. ↑ J S Crossette, ‘GRANVILLE (GRENVILLE), Hon. John (1665-1707), of Stowe, Cornw’, The History of Parliament, Crown copyright and The History of Parliament Trust, 1983 (http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1660-1690/member/granville-%28grenville%29-hon-john-1665-1707 : accessed 29 May 2016).
13. ↑ John Cannon, ‘Carteret, John, second Earl Granville (1690–1763)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2006 (Subscription required : accessed 29 May 2016).

• Visitation of the County of Cornwall Page 86: Kilkhampton Parish Register