Grenville, George

Grenville, George (1712–70). Prime minister. After training as a lawyer, Grenville entered Parliament in 1741 and held a number of junior posts from 1744. He was not offered high office until October 1761, when he became leader of the Commons. Soon afterwards he accepted cabinet office, becoming northern secretary in May 1762, but was moved to the Admiralty in October after clashing with Bute over patronage and policy. Grenville, therefore, was not a leading candidate for the premiership after Bute's resignation in April 1763, but when Henry Fox declined he became 1st lord of the Treasury virtually by default.

As prime minister he was responsible for the Stamp Act of 1765, which provoked rioting in America. In Britain there was no significant opposition to this legislation until after the Stamp Act crisis. American affairs had played no part in Grenville's fall in July 1765. The prevailing atmosphere of political suspicion left by Bute's resignation, exacerbated by Grenville's propensity to lecture the king, jeopardized political stability. Having avoided dismissal in the spring of 1765, Grenville determined to extort public proof of his mastery, insisting upon the removal of Bute's brother from the Scottish privy seal, thereby forcing George III to break his promise of granting the office for life. Unable immediately to retaliate, the king rid himself of Grenville at the first opportunity. Grenville spent the remainder of his political career in opposition, doggedly defending both his conduct as prime minister and his policy towards America.