Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Granville

Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Granville, GCB, PC (12 October 1773 – 8 January 1846), styled Lord Granville Leveson-Gower from 1786 to 1815 and Viscount Granville from 1815 to 1833, was a British Whig statesman and diplomat from the Leveson-Gower family.

The Right Honourable The Earl Granville GCB PC
Ambassador to Russia
In office 1804–1805
Preceded by	Sir John Borlase Warren, Bt
Succeeded by	The Lord Cathcart
In office 1807–1812
Preceded by	The Marquess of Douglas and Clydesdale
Succeeded by	The Viscount Cathcart
Ambassador to France
In office 1824–1828
Preceded by	Charles Stuart
Succeeded by	The Lord Stuart de Rothesay
In office 1830–1835
Preceded by	The Lord Stuart de Rothesay
Succeeded by	The Lord Cowley
In office 1835–1841
Preceded by	The Lord Cowley
Succeeded by	The Lord Cowley
Personal details
Born	(1773-10-12)12 October 1773
Died	8 January 1846(1846-01-08) (aged 72)
Nationality	British
Political party	Whig
Spouse(s)	Lady Harriet Cavendish (1785–1862)
Children	Susan Pitt-Rivers, Baroness Rivers Lady Georgiana Fullerton Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville Lord Frederick Leveson-Gower Harriet Osborne, Baroness Godolphin William Leveson-Gower (d.1833) George Stewart
Parents	Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford Lady Susanna Stewart
Alma mater	Christ Church, Oxford

Background and education

Granville was the second son and youngest child of Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford from his marriage to Lady Susanna Stewart, daughter of Alexander Stewart, 6th Earl of Galloway. His elder, paternal half-brother was George Leveson-Gower, 1st Duke of Sutherland.

Granville was educated at Dr. Kyle's school at Hammersmith, and then privately by the Revd. John Chappel Woodhouse. He matriculated from Christ Church, Oxford, in April 1789 but never took a degree. Nevertheless, ten years later, in 1799, the honorary degree of DCL was conferred upon him.[1]

Career

Granville began his career as a member of the House of Commons, representing Lichfield from 1795 to 1799, and Staffordshire for the next sixteen years. Granville served as British ambassador to Russia (10 August 1804 – 28 November 1805 and 1806–1807) and France (1824–1828, 1830[2]–1835, 1835–1841).

In 1815 he was raised to the peerage as Viscount Granville of Stone Park in the County of Stafford.[3] In 1833 during his second stint as ambassador to France, he was created Earl Granville and also Baron Leveson of Stone Park in the County of Stafford.[4][5]

Personal life

A recent historian says that Granville "was a drab figure, the original stuffed-shirt – starch outside, sawdust within."[6]

Lord Granville married Lady Harriet Cavendish (1785–1862), daughter of William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire and Lady Georgiana Spencer, in 1809. They had two sons and two daughters. Their eldest son, Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville, became a distinguished politician. Their second son the Hon. Frederick Leveson-Gower was also a politician. Their daughter Lady Georgiana married Alexander Fullerton. She was a biographer, novelist and great philanthropist. Lord Granville died in January 1846, aged 72. The Countess Granville died in November 1862, aged 77.[7] A younger son William died in 1833.[8]

Lord Granville, prior to marrying Lady Harriet Cavendish, was the lover of Lady Harriet's maternal aunt, Henrietta Ponsonby, Countess of Bessborough, née Lady Henrietta Frances Spencer, with whom he fathered two illegitimate children: Harriette Stewart and George Stewart. For seventeen years she "loved to idolatry" this younger man,[9] but then, she understood that he must marry in order to further his career and assure his posterity, and so she actively collaborated in the arrangements for his wedding to Harriet (known in the family as "Harry-O"), who was understandably reluctant to marry her aunt's lover.[10]

References

1. Chamberlain, 2008
2. "No. 18755". The London Gazette. 10 December 1830. p. 2579.
3. "No. 17040". The London Gazette. 15 July 1815. p. 1425.
4. "No. 19044". The London Gazette. 3 May 1833. p. 835.
5. Chamberlain, 2008
6. David Wetzel, A Duel of Giants: Bismarck, Napoleon III, and the Origins of the Franco-Prussian War (2001) p. 217
7. Chamberlain, 2008
8. Coleridge, Henry James. Life of Lady Georgiana Fullerton, London. Richard Bentley & Son. 1888, p. 78 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
9. Lord David Cecil Lord Melbourne Pan Books edition 1965 p. 39
10. Paul Douglass Lady Caroline Lamb New York: Palgrave-MacMillan 2004 p. 87-88

Further reading

• Chamberlain, Muriel E. "Gower, Granville George Leveson-, second Earl Granville (1815–1891)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/16543. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
• Hamilton, John Andrew (1893). "Leveson-Gower, Granville (1773–1846)" . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. 33. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
• Fitzmaurice, Baron Edmond; Fitzmaurice, Edmond George Petty-Fitzmaurice, 1st Baron (1905). The life of Granville George Leveson Gower, second earl Granville, K.G., 1815–1891. Longmans, Green.

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Earl Granville
• Peerage, Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs . Retrieved on 17 November 2008.

Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by Thomas Gilbert Thomas Anson	Member of Parliament for Lichfield 1795–1799 With: Thomas Anson	Succeeded by Sir John Wrottesley Thomas Anson
Preceded by Earl Gower Sir Edward Littleton, Bt	Member of Parliament for Staffordshire 1799–1801 With: Sir Edward Littleton, Bt	Succeeded by Parliament of the United Kingdom
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Parliament of Great Britain	Member of Parliament for Staffordshire 1801–1815 With: Sir Edward Littleton, Bt 1801–1812 Edward John Littleton 1812–1815	Succeeded by Earl Gower Edward John Littleton
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Sir John Borlase Warren, Bt	British Ambassador to Russia 1804–1805	Succeeded by The Lord Cathcart
Preceded by Marquess of Douglas and Clydesdale	British Ambassador to Russia 1807–1812	Vacant Treaties of Tilsit Title next held by The Viscount Cathcart
Preceded by Sir Charles Stuart	British Ambassador to France 1824–1828	Succeeded by The Lord Stuart de Rothesay
Preceded by The Lord Stuart de Rothesay	British Ambassador to France 1830–1835	Succeeded by The Lord Cowley
Preceded by The Lord Cowley	British Ambassador to France 1835–1841
Political offices
Preceded by Sir James Murray-Pulteney, Bt	Secretary at War 1809	Succeeded by The Viscount Palmerston
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation	Earl Granville 2nd creation 1833–1846	Succeeded by Granville Leveson-Gower
	Viscount Granville 1815–1846