Bevil Grenville
Sir Bevil Granville | |
|---|---|
 Sir Bevil Grenville | |
| Member of Parliament for Cornwall | |
| In office November 1640 – September 1642 (suspended) | |
| Deputy lieutenant Cornwall | |
| In office 1636–1643 | |
| Member of Parliament for Launceston | |
| In office April 1625 – April 1640 | |
| Member of Parliament for Cornwall | |
| In office 1620–1624 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 23 March 1596 Lower Brynn, near Withiel, Cornwall |
| Died | 5 July 1643 (aged 47) Charlcombe |
| Cause of death | Killed in battle |
| Resting place | St James, Kilkhampton |
| Nationality | English |
| Spouse | Grace Smith (1618-his death) |
| Parent(s) | Sir Bernard Grenville (1567–1636); Elizabeth Bevil (1564–1636) |
| Alma mater | Exeter College, Oxford |
| Occupation | Soldier and politician |
| Military service | |
| Rank | Colonel |
| Battles/wars | Wars of the Three Kingdoms Braddock Down; Sourton Down; Stratton; Lansdowne † |
Sir Bevil Grenville (23 March 1596 – 5 July 1643) was an
Early life
Bevil Grenville was born 23 March 1596 in Lower Brynn, near Withiel, Cornwall, eldest son of Sir Bernard Grenville (1567–1636) and Elizabeth Bevil (1564–1636), and grandson of Elizabethan hero and naval captain, Sir Richard Grenville (1542–1591).[1] He had a younger brother, Richard (1600–1659), who later also fought for the Royalists during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, acquiring a reputation for brutality and greed.[2]
Grenville entered Exeter College, Oxford , in 1611, and graduated in 1614, later saying he had failed to benefit much from his time there.[1] He spent the next four years at Court, supervised by Endymion Porter, a close friend of his father and of the future Charles I.[3]
In 1618, Grenville married Grace Smith (died 1647), daughter of Sir George Smith, three times Mayor of Exeter and one of its wealthiest citizens, an important consideration given his father's sizeable debts.[3] They went on to have twelve children, including Richard (born 1620, died young), John (1628–1701), Dennis (died 1702), Bernard (1631–1701), Elizabeth, Bridget, Joanna and Grace.[4]
Early career
In 1621, Grenville was elected as one of the two
In 1625, the family estates at Kilkhampton were settled on Grenville in return for agreeing to settle his father's debts of £15,000.[1] He was elected for Launceston in 1625 and retained the seat until Charles I suspended Parliament in 1629.
While Sir Bernard backed Charles and his arbitrary policies, his son was a supporter of Sir John Eliot who was imprisoned in the Tower of London for his opposition to Personal Rule. Grenville withdrew from involvement in politics after Eliot's death in 1632, but was reconciled with his father shortly before he died in 1636 and became Deputy lieutenant of Cornwall.[1]
Wars of the Three Kingdoms
Despite his previous opposition to Royal policies, on the outbreak of the Bishops' Wars with Scotland in 1639, Grenville raised a troop of cavalry which acted as Charles' bodyguard and was knighted for his service in 1639. When Parliament was briefly recalled in April 1640, he was re-elected for Launceston, then sat for Cornwall in the Long Parliament from November 1640 until he was suspended in September 1642.[3]
When the
The rank and file often had little choice in deciding whether to "volunteer"; Grenville, generally regarded as a benevolent landlord, threatened his tenants and employees with sanctions if they refused to sign up.[6] While militia on both sides often refused to serve outside their own counties, the Cornish were particularly noted for their reluctance to serve outside Cornwall or under non-Cornish officers. Although regarded as some of the best infantry available to the Royalists in the West, these factors limited their usefulness.[6] When Royalist commander Sir Ralph Hopton advanced on Plymouth after his victory at Braddock Down in January 1643, many of his troops refused to cross the River Tamar into Devon.[7]
At Stratton on 16 May 1643, Grenville led his men against Parliamentarian troops entrenched along the top of Stamford hill. After eight hours of fighting, the Royalists were nearly out of ammunition and a counterattack led by James Chudleigh knocked over Grenville and briefly caused his troops to waver; however, they quickly rallied and cut down their opponents using pikes and clubs. Shortly after this, the Parliamentarians were in headlong flight, a victory which secured Cornwall for the Royalists.[8] Their advance into Devon, then Somerset, led to the Battle of Lansdowne on 5 July, near Bath. Grenville led his regiment in a successful charge against Parliamentarian positions on Lansdowne Hill, then formed a defensive line and held his ground despite a series of counterattacks by the Parliamentarian cavalry.[9]
In the course of this, Grenville was hit in the head with a
Legacy
His grandson
Footnotes
- Privy Counsel& in ye year of Our Lord 1714"
- ^ Inscribed on the monument is Elegy on Sir Bevil Grenville by William Cartwright, another Royalist killed on 29 November 1643; "This was not Nature’s courage nor that thing, We valour call which Time and Reason bring, But a diviner fury fierce and high, Valour transported into Ecstasy".
References
- ^ a b c d Duffin 2004.
- ^ Barratt 2004, p. 158.
- ^ a b c d Yerby & Hunneyball 2010.
- ^ Burke 1836, p. 6.
- ^ Stoyle 2002, pp. 205–207.
- ^ a b Barratt 2005, p. 18.
- ^ Barratt 2005, pp. 22–27.
- ^ Royle 2006, pp. 240–241.
- ^ Royle 2006, pp. 243–244.
- ^ Barratt 2005, p. 56.
- ^ Carlton 1992, p. 220.
- ^ Mee 1937, pp. 98–99.
- ^ Cruickshanks 2004.
- ^ Round 1930, p. 142.
Sources
- Barratt, John (2005). The Civil war in the South-West. Pen & Sword Military. ISBN 1-84415-146-8.
- Barratt, John (2004). Cavalier Generals: King Charles I and His Commanders in the English Civil War 1642 - 1646. Leo Cooper. ISBN 978-1844151288.
- Burke, John (1836). Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland, Volume 3. H Colbourn.
- Carlton, Charles (1992). Going to the Wars: The Experience of the British Civil Wars 1638–1651. Routledge. ISBN 978-1138155787.
- Cruickshanks, Eveline (2004). "Granville, George, Baron Lansdowne and Jacobite duke of Albemarle (1666-1735)". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/11301. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- Duffin, Anne (2004). "Grenville [Grenvile], Sir Bevil [Bevill] (1596–1643)". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/11487. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- Duffin, Anne; Hunneyball, Paul (2010). GRENVILLE, Bevill (1596–1643), of Stowe, Kilkhampton, Cornw in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1604–1629 (Online ed.). Boydell & Brewer.
- Mee, Arthur (1937). The King's England: Cornwall. Hodder & Stoughton.
- Round, Horace (1930). Family Origins and Other Studies; the Granvilles and the Monks. London.
- Royle, Trevor (2006). Civil War: The Wars of the Three Kingdoms 1638–1660. Abacus. ISBN 978-0-349-11564-1.
- Stoyle, Mark (2002). West Britons: Cornish Identities and the Early Modern British State. University of Exeter Press. ISBN 978-0859896870.
- Yerby, George; Hunneyball, Paul (2010). SMITH, George (-d.1619), of Madford House, Exeter, Devon in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1604-1629 (Online ed.). Boydell & Brewer.
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