John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath

Arms of Granville: Gules, three clarions or

John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath PC (29 August 1628 – 22 August 1701) was an English royalist statesman, whose highest position was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. He was a son of Sir Bevil Grenville and his wife Grace Smythe. His mother was a daughter of Sir George Smythe.

Career

Granville fought in the English Civil War, on the side of Charles I and in the regiment of his father. He was created a knight due to his bravery, and became a Lord of the Bedchamber to the Prince of Wales.

He accompanied Charles II to exile, and mediated with the Long Parliament. In 1660, Granville was instrumental in the negotiations between his cousin Monck, and Charles II that led to the restoration of the King. Shortly after the Restoration, he contested the succession of the Dukedom of Albemarle, but lost. He was presently created Earl of Bath, Viscount Granville, and Baron Granville, and invested a Privy Councillor two years later (in 1663). In 1665, he served as the titular Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, although he never went to Ireland (and is consequently not considered a true holder of that office). In about 1680 he rebuilt Stowe House in a grand style befitting his new noble status.

Lord Bath was twice appointed colonel of the 10th Regiment of Foot, first in 1685 then again in 1688 (around the time of the Glorious Revolution). He died in London, England upon the turn of the 18th century.

Marriage and children

In October 1652 Bath married Jane Wyche, daughter of Sir Peter Wyche, English ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, in Stowe, Cornwall, near Kilkhampton. They were parents of five children:

• Jane Granville (d. 27 February 1696). She married Sir William Leveson-Gower, 4th Baronet and was mother of John Leveson-Gower, 1st Baron Gower.
• Charles Granville, 2nd Earl of Bath (bapt. 31 August 1661, d. 4 September 1701 by suicide). He was twice married, firstly to Lady Martha Osborne, daughter of the 1st Duke of Leeds (d. 11 September 1689, aged 25), and secondly, on 10 March 1691, to Isabella van Nassau (bapt. 20 April 1668, d. in childbirth on 30 January 1692 at London), sister of Henry Nassau d'Auverquerque, 1st Earl of Grantham. He had no children by his first wife, and was, by his second wife, father of:
  • William Henry Granville, 3rd Earl of Bath (30 January 1692 – 1711, died of smallpox, aged 19).
• John Granville, 1st Baron Granville (1665–1707).
• Catherine Granville.
• Grace Granville, Countess Granville (3 September 1654 – 18 October 1744). She married George Carteret, 1st Baron Carteret and was mother to John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville.

Armorials

The armorials of the family of Granville / Grenville of Glamorgan, Devon and Cornwall is of certain form but uncertain blazon. The charges appear in the form of musical pipes of a wind-instrument, similar to pan-pipes. Authoritative sources on heraldry suggest the charges to be variously "clarions" (used by Guillim (d.1621)), the most usual blazon, which are however generally defined as a form of trumpet; "rests" is another common blazon, denoting lance-rests supposedly used by a mounted knight; "organ-rests" is also met with, a seemingly meaningless term (Gibbon (1682)). Other terms are "clavicymbal", "clarichord" and "sufflue" (used by Leigh in his Armory of 1562 and by Boswell, 1572), the latter being a device for blowing (French: souffler) air into an organ., Guillim suggested the charge may be a rudder, but in which case it is shown upside down, when compared to that charge used for example on the tomb at Callington of Robert Willoughby, 1st Baron Willoughby de Broke. Certainly in the brasses on the chest tomb of Sir John Bassett (d.1529) in Atherington Church, Devon, the charges are engraved in tubular forms with vents or reeds as used in true organ pipes.

See also

• List of deserters from James II to William of Orange