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Greville, Henry F.
Person · 1760-1816

Henry Francis Greville was born on July 10, 1760, in Wilbury, Wiltshire, England.

He was a British military officer and impresario. In 1777, he was appointed an ensign in the Coldstream Guards, and in 1781, was promoted to Lieutenant. Deployed to North America during the American Revolutionary War, he became a prisoner of war (POW) following the British surrender at Yorktown. In May 1782, he was one of 13 POWs forced to draw lots to determine which one should be executed in retaliation for the execution of a patriot captain by Loyalists in what became known as the Asgill Affair. In 1790, he was appointed to the 4th Regiment of Dragoon Guards to serve in Ireland as Lieutenant-Colonel. While in the army, he became interested in theatricals, and after leaving the army, he tried to organize professional theatre shows. In 1801, he founded the Pic-Nic Society and began a weekly newspaper, the Pic-Nic, to report theatrical affairs. In 1803, he purchased the lease on a mansion on Little Argyll Street, where in 1806, he gave two balls. In 1807, the Lord Chamberlain granted Greville an annual license to host music, dancing, burlettas, and dramatic performances at the Argyll Rooms. The license was renewed the following year, but afterwards, it was limited to music and dancing. By 1811, Greville was ill and in deep debt. He tried to sell the Argyll Rooms in 1811. In 1812, he went abroad, possibly as a condition of his family helping with his debts. He died on January 13, 1816, in Port Louis, Mauritius.

In 1791, he married Catherine Graham (1776–1803), and in 1805, he remarried Sophia Lambert (née Whyte) (1771–1839).

https://lccn.loc.gov/n50031621 · Person · 1862-1933

Edward Grey was born on April 25, 1862, in London, England.

He was a British Liberal politician. He attended Winchester and Balliol College, Oxford, but never received a degree. He succeeded to his grandfather’s baronetcy and estate in 1882 and, from 1885 to 1916, when he was created Viscount Grey of Fallodon, he sat in the House of Commons. He became Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign Office in 1892 and was appointed Foreign Secretary in 1905, a post he held until 1916. His most important action came in the July Crisis in 1914, when he led Britain into World War I against Germany. He convinced the Liberal cabinet that Britain had an obligation and was honour-bound to defend France and prevent Germany from controlling Western Europe. Grey became President of the League of Nations Union in 1918. From 1919 to 1920, he served as Ambassador to the United States. In 1923–1924, despite increasing blindness, he led the Liberal opposition in the House of Lords. He was also President of the Liberal Council (1927-1933) and Chancellor of Oxford University (1928-1933). Grey received an honorary degree of Doctor of Law from Oxford in 1907. In 1932, he co-founded the organization British Trust for Ornithology. As an avid ornithologist, he published the book on his love of birds, "The Charm of Birds" (1927). Grey also published his memoirs, "Twenty-Five Years, 1892-1916" (2 vols., 1925) and several other books, e.g., "Fly Fishing" (1899) and "The League of Nations" (1918).

In 1885, he married Dorothy Widdrington (–1906), and in 1922, he remarried Pamela Wyndham (1871–1928). He died on September 7, 1933, in Fallodon, England.