Sir Richard Grenville, 1st Baronet

Who was Sir Richard Grenville, 1st Baronet?

Sir Richard Grenville, 1st Baronet was a Cornish Royalist leader during the English Civil War.

He was the third son of Sir Bernard Grenville, and a grandson of the famous seaman, Sir Richard Grenville. Having served in France, Germany and the Netherlands, Grenville gained the favour of George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, took part in the expeditions to Cádiz, to the island of Rhé and to La Rochelle, was knighted, and in 1628 became member of parliament for Fowey, Cornwall.

In 1630, he married Mary Fitz, the wealthy widow of Sir Charles Howard, and was made a baronet, of Kilkhampton in the County of Cornwall; his violent temper destroyed the marriage, and he was imprisoned as the result of two lawsuits, one with his wife, and the other with her kinsman, the Earl of Suffolk. In 1633 he escaped from prison and went to Germany, returning to England six years later to join the army which Charles I was collecting to march against the Scots.