The Grenville political faction, or the Grenvillites according to the terminology of Sack, was an important faction in British politics from about 1794 to 1830. It was not a political party in the modern sense but a fluctuating political grouping around a nucleus of Grenvilles, who, along with the Pitts and Foxes, was one of the most prominent political families from the mid-seventeenth century to about 1810. The Grenvilles have often been portrayed in a bad light, with an obsession for sinecure postings and a greed for power. Their leaders often put personal pride before political ideology and broader loyalties. 

The Grenvillites were at their strongest in the first decade of the nineteenth century. In 1808, on Sack's analysis, they numbered around 24 peers and 22 MPs. From the 1790s, they had two rather different leaders. 

George Grenville, the first Marquis of Buckingham (Nugent Buckingham), was a traditional grandee who often let family obsessions override his political sense. He was succeeded by his son, the first Duke (Richard Temple), whose lack of political judgment, vanity and obsessive self-interest led the faction to its doom. These men led the core, largely family, group of Grenvillites.

Nugent Buckingham's brother, William Wyndham Grenville, was an altogether more successful politician. He kept the wider group of Grenvillites together until his retirement as active politician in 1817. The conservative Grenvillites broke with the Whig party in 1817. Afterwards the first Duke headed a separate smaller Grenvillite faction, until he resigned from government in 1829. 

The Grenvillites  were at the height of their powers at the point when the traditional English political factions were giving way to the party political system. Their failure to adapt to the change led to their eventual demise.  

The Grenvillites in 1808

(After Sack)

See Also

• Parliament
• Sir Edward Hyde East

Sources

The main source of analysis of the Grenvillites is Sack. 

Copyright

The list of Grenvillites is © Sack.