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The Grenville Whigs (or Grenvillites) were a name given to several
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
political factions of the 18th and the early 19th centuries, all of which were associated with the important Grenville family of
Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...
.


Background

The Grenville family interest, led by
Richard Grenville-Temple, 2nd Earl Temple Richard Grenville-Temple, 2nd Earl Temple, KG, PC (26 September 1711 – 12 September 1779) was a British politician and peer who served as Lord Privy Seal from 1757 to 1761. He is best known for his association with his brother-in-law Willia ...
, which dominated local politics in
Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...
, was prominent in the mid-18th century politics as close allies of Temple's brother-in-law, William Pitt the Elder, 1st Earl Chatham. They had earlier been members of the group of Cobham's Cubs. However, in the early 1760s, a split occurred in the family as a result of Pitt's dismissal from the government in October 1761. Temple quit the government in protest, but his younger brother,
George Grenville George Grenville (14 October 1712 – 13 November 1770) was a British Whig statesman who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain, during the early reign of the young George III. He served for only two years (1763-1765), and attempted to solv ...
, remained in the government, which was now dominated by King
George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...
's favourite,
Lord Bute John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute (; 25 May 1713 – 10 March 1792), styled Lord Mount Stuart between 1713 and 1723, was a British Tories (British political party), Tory statesman who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Prime Mini ...
, who served as
Leader of the House of Commons The Leader of the House of Commons is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom whose main role is organising government business in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons. The Leader is always a memb ...
. The followers of the younger Grenville became known as Grenvillites or Grenville Whigs.


George Grenville

George Grenville fully came into his own as a politician in 1763, when he was made
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
, but his own following was not sufficient to form a government. Grenville was forced to rely largely on the Bedford Whigs, supporters of the
Duke of Bedford Duke of Bedford (named after Bedford, England) is a title that has been created six times (for five distinct people) in the Peerage of England. The first creation came in 1414 for Henry IV's third son, John, who later served as regent of Fran ...
, to staff his ministry. After Grenville himself was ousted from power in 1765 as a result of conflicts with the King, Grenville moved into opposition and for a time from 1766 to 1767 was the leader of one of three separate opposition factions (the other two were led by the Duke of Bedford and
Lord Rockingham Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham (13 May 1730 – 1 July 1782), styled The Honourable Charles Watson-Wentworth before 1739, Viscount Higham between 1739 and 1746, Earl of Malton between 1746 and 1750, and the Marquess of R ...
). After Grenville's own death in 1770, the
Earl of Suffolk Earl of Suffolk is a title which has been created four times in the Peerage of England. The first creation, in tandem with the creation of the title of Earl of Norfolk, came before 1069 in favour of Ralph the Staller; but the title was forfei ...
took over the official leadership of Grenville's faction and negotiated Grenvillite entrance into the
Lord North Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford (13 April 17325 August 1792), better known by his courtesy title Lord North, which he used from 1752 to 1790, was Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1770 to 1782. He led Great Britain through most of the ...
ministry in early 1771, but many of Grenville's former supporters refused to follow him and remained in opposition with Chatham and Temple.


Marquess of Buckingham

After Lord Temple's death in 1779, George Grenville's sons, George Nugent-Temple-Grenville, 3rd Earl Temple (from 1784 the Marquess of Buckingham), and
William Wyndham Grenville William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville (25 October 175912 January 1834) was a British Pittite Tory politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1806 to 1807, but was a supporter of the Whigs for the duration of the N ...
, became the principal figures in the Grenville family. Temple played a key role in bringing down the
Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...
-
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coalition in December 1783 and in bringing his cousin
William Pitt the Younger William Pitt (28 May 1759 – 23 January 1806) was a British statesman who served as the last prime minister of Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain from 1783 until the Acts of Union 1800, and then first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, p ...
to power as Prime Minister, but he was snubbed for major office. Nevertheless, he and his supporters backed the new ministry, and William Grenville soon became one of Pitt's closest advisors and served for ten years (1791–1801) as Foreign Secretary during the difficult period of the
French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars () were a series of sweeping military conflicts resulting from the French Revolution that lasted from 1792 until 1802. They pitted French First Republic, France against Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain, Habsb ...
.


Lord Grenville

The resignation of Pitt's government in 1801 brought about a separation between Pitt and his cousin, William Wyndham Grenville (now Lord Grenville), which was encouraged by Buckingham and his followers, who had always resented Pitt for preventing him from receiving major office. During the Addington government from 1801 to 1804, a number of former supporters of the Pitt government declared their dissatisfaction with the new ministry, came to consider Grenville as their leader and called calling themselves "Grenvilles" or "Grenvillite". Although Grenville himself initially kept his distance from his supposed followers, he had by 1803 acknowledged himself as their leader. Other than dependents of Lord Buckingham, the group was largely former Portland Whigs who had joined the Pitt government in 1794 and opposed the Addington government's policy of peace with France. Notable members of the group included Lord Spencer, Lord Fitzwilliam, William Windham and Buckingham and Grenville's brother, Thomas Grenville. The new group, aptly nicknamed the "New Opposition", gradually made a tentative alliance with
Charles James Fox Charles James Fox (24 January 1749 – 13 September 1806), styled ''The Honourable'' from 1762, was a British British Whig Party, Whig politician and statesman whose parliamentary career spanned 38 years of the late 18th and early 19th centurie ...
's "Old Opposition". Their disagreements were many, most apparently on the topic of war with France, wherein the Grenvillites wished to prosecute it more aggressively, but Fox desired peace by negotiation. When Addington's government fell in 1804, Grenville hoped to form a coalition government that included supporters of himself, Pitt, and Fox, but he was stymied by the King's refusal to countenance a government that included Fox. Unwilling to go into government without his new ally, Grenville chose to remain in opposition when Pitt formed his second government in May of that year. When Pitt died two years later, however, the King had little choice but to appoint a government including both the "New" and "Old" Opposition, and Grenville became Prime Minister in the Ministry of All the Talents. Although the coalition partners agreed about little besides the abolition of the slave trade, it was really the King's opposition to the ministry that destroyed it in early 1807. Thereafter, Grenville acted as nominal Leader of the Opposition although Lord Grey, the leader of the Foxites, was essentially equal with him.


Dissipation

After Buckingham's death in 1813 and Grenville's withdrawal from politics in 1817, the Grenvillites remained a distinct political grouping in opposition, but they were by now little more than a pawn of the ambitions of Buckingham's son, the 2nd Marquess of Buckingham. The former Portland Whigs who remained active in politics had by now largely returned to their former Whig allegiances. In 1822, Prime Minister
Lord Liverpool Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool (7 June 1770 – 4 December 1828) was a British Tory statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1812 to 1827. Before becoming Prime Minister he had been Foreign Secretary, ...
bought the group's support for the government by creating Buckingham as Duke of Buckingham and Chandos and bringing in several of his supporters, notably Charles Williams-Wynn, who became
President of the Board of Control President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...
, into the government. In the years that followed, the Grenvillites disappeared as a distinct political faction.


Notes


References

* * {{citation , doi=10.1086/385681 , jstor=175241 , journal= The Journal of British Studies , volume = 15, issue = 1 (Autumn 1975) , title=The Decline of the Grenvillite Faction under the First Duke of Buckingham and Chandos, 1817–1829 , last=Sack , first=James J. , year=1975 , pages=112–134 , s2cid=146173155 1760s establishments in England 1817 disestablishments in England English families People from Buckinghamshire Whig factions Eponymous political ideologies Grenville family William Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville George Grenville