Henry William Greville (28 October 1801 – 12 December 1872) was an English aristocrat and diarist.

Family

He was the youngest son of Charles Greville, grandson of the fifth Lord Warwick, by Lady Charlotte Cavendish Bentinck, eldest daughter of

William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland William Henry Cavendish Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland (14 April 173830 October 1809) was a British Whigs (British political party), Whig and then a Tories (British political party), Tory politician during the late Georgian era. He s ...

. He was born on 28 Oct. 1801, and was educated at

Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...

and

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

, where he graduated B.A. on 4 June 1823.

Life in Brussels

Much of his boyhood was spent on the European continent, chiefly at

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, where his family resided. He thus learned to speak French and Italian with fluency. He was taken by the

Duke of Wellington Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they ar ...

to the ball given by the Duchess of Richmond at Brussels on the night before the

battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (then in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium), marking the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The French Imperial Army (1804–1815), Frenc ...

Career

He became private secretary to Lord Francis Egerton, afterwards earl of Ellesmere, when

Chief Secretary for Ireland The Chief Secretary for Ireland was a key political office in the British Dublin Castle administration, administration in Ireland. Nominally subordinate to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Lord Lieutenant, and officially the "Chief Secretar ...

. From 1834 to 1844 he was attaché to the British embassy in Paris. He afterwards held the post of

gentleman usher Gentleman Usher and Lady Usher are titles for some officers of the Royal Household of the United Kingdom. For a list of office-holders from the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660 up to the present day see List of Lady and Gentleman Ushers. Gen ...

at court.

Relationship with Frederic Leighton

Greville was fond of society, of music, and the drama.

Fanny Kemble Frances Anne Kemble (later Butler; 27 November 180915 January 1893) was a British actress from a Kemble family, theatre family in the early and mid-nineteenth century. She was a well-known and popular writer and abolitionist whose published wor ...

knew him well, and described his fine voice and handsome appearance in her ''Records of a Girlhood'', iii. 173. He was known to have been homosexual, and enjoyed a close relationship with the younger artist

Frederic Leighton Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton, (3 December 1830 – 25 January 1896), known as Sir Frederic Leighton between 1878 and 1896, was a British Victorian painter, draughtsman, and sculptor. His works depicted historical, biblical, and clas ...

whom he met in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

in 1856. Greville's letters are full of nicknames for Leighton - calling him 'Fay' and 'Bimbo' and addressing him as "dear boy". However, the affection seems not to have been reciprocated.Emmanuel Cooper, ''The Sexual Perspective: Homosexuality and Art'', London, 1986

Death

He died on 12 Dec. 1872 at his house in

Mayfair Mayfair is an area of Westminster, London, England, in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. It is between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane and one of the most expensive districts ...

Diary

Like his brother, Charles Cavendish Fulke Greville, he kept during many years of his life a diary of such events, public and private, as specially interested him, a portion of which has been edited by his niece, Viscountess Enfield, under the title, ''Leaves from the Diary of Henry Greville'', 1883–4, 2 vols. 8vo. The ''Diary'' derives its chief importance as an historical authority from the author's position at Paris between 1834 and 1844.

References

1801 births 1872 deaths 19th-century English diarists 19th-century English LGBTQ people 19th-century English male writers People educated at Westminster School, London

Henry Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...

Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford English male non-fiction writers Writers from Brussels British expatriates in France {{england-writer-stub