Ronald Greville

Hon. Ronald Henry Fulke Greville MVO (14 October 1864 – 5 April 1908)[1] was an English Conservative Party politician. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Bradford East from 1896 to 1906.

The Honourable Ronald Greville MVO
Member of Parliament for Bradford East
In office 1896–1906
Preceded by	Henry Byron Reed
Succeeded by	William Priestley
Personal details
Born	Ronald Henry Fulke Greville 14 October 1864
Died	5 April 1908 (aged 43)
Political party	Conservative
Spouse(s)	Margaret Helen Anderson ​ ​ (m. 1891; his death 1908)​
Relations	Charles Greville, 3rd Baron Greville (brother)
Parents	Algernon Greville, 2nd Baron Greville Lady Beatrice Violet Graham
Residence	Polesden Lacey
Education	Rugby School

Early life

Greville was born 14 October 1864 the eldest of four children of politician Algernon Greville, 2nd Baron Greville (1841–1909) and the writer Lady Beatrice Violet Graham.[2]

His paternal grandparents were Fulke Greville-Nugent, 1st Baron Greville and his wife, Lady Rosa Nugent (the only daughter and heir of the George Nugent, 1st Marquess of Westmeath).[3] His maternal grandparents were James Graham, 4th Duke of Montrose and the former Hon. Caroline Agnes Horsley-Beresford (third daughter of John Horsley-Beresford, 2nd Baron Decies).[4]

Career

His wife, Margaret Greville in 1900. Courtesy of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.

He was educated at Rugby School and entered the Army, at first in the 3rd (Militia) Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and then the 1st Life Guards.[2] Greville resigned his commission in 1896 when he was elected as a Member of Parliament.[2]

Political career

Greville first stood for Parliament at the 1895 general election, when he was unsuccessful candidate in the Liberal-held Barnsley division of the West Riding of Yorkshire[5] After the death of Henry Byron Reed, the Conservative MP for the Eastern division of Bradford, Greville was selected as the Conservative candidate for the resulting by-election in November 1896. He won the contest, and was re-elected in 1900, holding the seat until he retired from the House of Commons at the 1906 general election.[6]

He was a Captain in the 1st Life Guards until he resigned this commission in June 1896.[7]

Personal life

On 25 April 1891 he married Margaret Helen Anderson (1863–1942).[4] Margaret was the illegitimate daughter of William McEwan, a multimillionaire brewer (later elected as an MP for Edinburgh Central)[8][9] and his mistress, Helen Anderson, a cook who married McEwan after her first husband's death in 1885.[10] After their marriage, they lived at Polesden Lacey, in Great Bookham, Surrey, a gift from his wife's father.[4]

On 5 April 1908, when Greville was 43, he died from pneumonia following an operation, predeceasing his own father and never acceding to the peerage.[2] As Ronald had no children, after his father's death the following December 1909,[11] his younger brother Charles became the 3rd Baron Greville.[12]

References

1. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 4)
2. "Captain The Hon. Ronald Greville". Obituaries. The Times (38613). London. 6 April 1908. col C, p. 6.
3. Mair, Robert H. (1884). Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage, and Companionage: Comprising Information Concerning All Persons bearing Hereditary or Courtesy Titles, of Companions of the Orders of Knighthood and of the Indian Empire, and of all Collateral Branches of Peers and Baronets; Illustrated with 1400 Armorial Bearings. London: Dean and Son. p. 314.
4. "Greville, Baron (UK, 1869 - 1987)". www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk. Heraldic Media Limited. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
5. Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1974]. British parliamentary election results 1885–1918 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 432. ISBN 0-900178-27-2.
6. Craig, op, cit, page 80
7. Record of Service held at Household Cavalry Museum
8. "Dr. William McEwan: Overview of Dr. William McEwan". Scottish-places.info. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
9. Donnachie, Ian (2004). "McEwan, William (1827–1913)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/50416. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
10. Davenport-Hines 2015.
11. TIMES, Special Cable to The NEW YORK (30 November 1909). "LORD GREVILLE VERY ILL.; Honeymoon of His Son, Capt. Greville, and His Bride Interrupted" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
12. "LORD GREVILLE DEAD; Must Not Break Manhole Covers or Interfere with Mall Tube Service" (PDF). The New York Times. 3 December 1909. Retrieved 15 November 2019.

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Hon. Ronald Greville
• Portraits of Hon. Ronald Henry Fulke Greville at the National Portrait Gallery, London