Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Granville

Thomas Lawrence : Granville Leveson-Gower, around 1815

Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Granville (born October 12, 1773 , † January 7, 1846 in London ) was a British statesman and diplomat .

Live and act

Granville Leveson-Gower was a son of Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford , by the third marriage to Susanna Stewart, daughter of Alexander Stewart, 6th Earl of Galloway . George Leveson-Gower, 1st Duke of Sutherland was his half-brother.

He was elected to Lichfield 's House of Commons in 1795 and appointed Lord of the Treasury by Pitt in 1800 . From this post he resigned in 1802 at the same time as Pitt. When Pitt became Prime Minister again in 1804 , Leveson-Gower went to Russia as envoy to sign the treaty that brought about the 1805 campaign against Napoleon . After briefly serving as State Secretary in the War Ministry, he returned to Russia in 1807; he stayed there until 1812. He was then sent to The Hague .

Leveson-Gower became ambassador to Paris in 1824 . From this position he was recalled in 1828 by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington . Gray sent him back to Paris in 1830, where he was on good terms with the July government. With a brief interruption, he remained in this post until 1841 when he was replaced by Henry Wellesley, 1st Baron Cowley .

Thomas Lawrence : Granville Leveson-Gower with his wife and children, oil on canvas, around 1815

Granville Leveson-Gower, Earl Granville married their niece, Lady Harriet Elizabeth (1785-1862), daughter of William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire and his first wife, Lady Georgiana Spencer , on December 24, 1809 in London . Four children emerged from the mutual connection:

• Susan Georgiana (1810–1866) ⚭ 1866 George Rivers, 4th Baron Rivers
• Georgiana Charlotte (1812-1885) ⚭ 1833 Alexander George Fullerton
• Granville George (1815-1891), 2nd Earl Granville

⚭ 1840 Princess Marie Louise Pelina von Dalberg († 1860); the widow of Sir Richard Acton

⚭ 1865 Lady Castila Rosalind Campbell

• Edward Frederick (1819–1907) ⚭ 1851 Lady Margaret Compton

Leveson-Gower had two illegitimate children, Harriett Stewart and George Stewart, with the married Henrietta Frances Ponsonby, Countess of Bessborough (1761-1821). She was the aunt of his future wife, as well as the mistress of the Prince of Wales and later King George IV.

1815 Leveson-Gower was as Viscount Granville to Peer made, in 1833 he became the Earl Granville collected.

Leveson-Gower died in London on January 7, 1846 . His son Granville George Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville (1815-1891) was Secretary of State under Palmerston and Gladstone .

Web links

• Sir Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Granville, on thepeerage.com , accessed July 21, 2015.

predecessor	Office	successor
New title created	Earl Granville 1833-1846	Granville Leveson-Gower