James Grenville, 1st Baron Glastonbury

Who was James Grenville, 1st Baron Glastonbury?

James Grenville, 1st Baron Glastonbury, PC was a United Kingdom politician, who was a member of both houses of Parliament during his career.

Grenville was the eldest son of James Grenville MP and a first cousin of George Nugent-Temple-Grenville, 1st Marquess of Buckingham. The Grenvilles were the most prominent aristocratic family in the south-eastern English county of Buckinghamshire in the 18th and early 19th centuries. For much of this time they supplied one of the two parliamentary representatives of Buckinghamshire and both of those from the town of Buckingham.

The family produced some prominent national political figures, including two Prime Ministers. They were also related to William Pitt the Elder and William Pitt the Younger.

Grenville was educated at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford.

As a politician he generally followed his family connection up to 1801 and after 1806, but between those years he continued to support William Pitt the Younger instead of becoming closer to Charles James Fox as most of his politically active Grenville relatives did.