George Grenville was born in October 1712 into a political family; his father was an MP, all of his four brothers would become MPs, and his sister Hester married William Pitt. He was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford. He did not receive a degree.

He was elected to Parliament as MP for the pocket borough of Buckingham in 1741 and represented that seat for the rest of his life. He joined William Pitt as Patriotic Whig, opposed to the waning Robert Walpole.

Grenville became a Lord of the Admiralty in Pelham’s government in 1744 and was promoted to be a Lord of the Treasury in 1747. He was promoted again in 1754 to be Treasurer of the Navy, but the following year he spoke out against a treaty with Russia and was dismissed.

He rejoined the government as Treasurer of the Navy in the Devonshire ministry and then the Pitt-Newcastle ministry.  He was promoted to Leader of the House of Commons in 1761, which he held for seven months. In 1762, he became Northern Secretary, and played a part in negotiating the peace at the end of the Seven Years’ War.

Whilst in power, Grenville had become more distant from Pitt, and closer to Lord Bute and the Prince of Wales. He did not resign with Pitt in 1761 and played an active role for the rest of Newcastle’s government, and then in Lord Bute’s. However, he became increasingly irritating to Bute, disagreeing with the peace terms offered to the French. Finally, Bute demoted him to First Lord of the Admiralty.

Bute resigned in April 1763, due to his unpopularity. He recommended Grenville become Prime Minister. Grenville accepted on the condition that Bute would have no impact on the government.

Grenville’s focus was financial and administrative reform, tasks in which he achieved modest success.

However, like all of the Prime Ministers of the 1760s, he grappled with the legacy of victory in the Seven Years’ War, and the enormous debts that the war had left. By the 1760s, 4% of the whole government budget was spent on a large army in North America. Grenville believed that the American colonists should pay taxes for the army that protected them and in return for the war that had been fought on their behalf.

In 1765, Grenville’s government passed the Stamp Act. This imposed a tax on all colonial commercial papers, requiring them to be stamped. The measure created outrage in the colonies, where the complaint was raised that it was ‘taxation without representation’. Shortly afterwards, a Quartering Act was also passed, requiring colonial authorities to provide housing and food for British soldiers, further inflaming the situation.  Ultimately, these acts are now seen as crucial milestones on the road to American independence.

Grenville was an effective parliamentarian, and had a good deal of support in the House of Commons. He had a calm, matter-of-fact delivery that made him well liked. Though he earned his nickname ‘gentle shepherd’ from an occasion when he asked ‘tell me where’ the House might find the revenue that would be lost from the abolition of the cider tax, and Pitt the Elder started humming the well-known song ‘Gentle Shepherd, Tell me Where’.

Grenville’s problem was personal. George III had hoped for a deferential Prime Minister, but Grenville was remarkably independent minded. He started to clash frequently with the King, insisting on his own appointments. He believed that George was still consulting Bute, and this caused great resentment.

The Grenville government also oversaw the prosecution of the radical John Wilkes for seditious libel. But this backfired, raising Wilkes’ profile and support. In March 1765, the King fell ill and a Regency Bill was prepared in case he died. The King refused to name a regent until a parliamentary vote forced him to do so. The crisis severely damaged relations between the King and Grenville.

In May 1765 there was an outbreak of rioting in London, and the King decided it provided a good reason to get rid of his troublesome minister. But he failed to persuade Pitt to form a government and had to go back to Grenville, who issued conditions. These included control over patronage.  George reluctantly agreed, but now resolved to get Grenville out of office, and ensure he never returned.

He instructed his uncle, the Duke of Cumberland, to secretly negotiate a new government. Cumberland approached Pitt the Elder, who refused. Then the elderly Newcastle, who also refused. But Newcastle recommended Lord Rockingham, his protégé. Thus, in July 1765, Rockingham replaced Grenville after 2 years and 85 days.

Grenville continued as an opposition leader, and he now had a loyal band of supporters (the ‘Grenvillites’). However, George got his wish that Grenville was never to return to office.

In 1749 Grenville married Elizabeth Wyndham and they had eight children, seven of whom reached adulthood. One of his children, William, would be Prime Minister over 1806-07. Elizabeth died in 1769.

Grenville died in 1770.