George Grenville Facts & Worksheets

• The Stamp Act was a specific tax imposed on the American colonies mandating that documents and newspapers be printed on stamped paper from London, which required an embossed revenue stamp purchased with British coin. It provoked widespread indignation and led to public disobedience and riots across the American colonies. The signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1763 officially signified the end of the Seven Years’ War for Britain, resulting in foreign policy, military policy and diplomacy ceasing to be the primary focus of domestic politics and government priorities. 
• When it appeared that the French and Spanish had commenced their support for Britain’s colonial dissenters in the Americas and elsewhere, so threatening British friends on the continent, it incited arguments and animosity among British leaders who perceived this as a breach of British sovereignty. Britain initiated a phase of isolation because it lacked allies on the continent, and the allies it possessed were either weak or of diminished military or political significance.
• In conflicts with Spain and France, Grenville successfully achieved British aims through the use of gunboat diplomacy throughout his ministry. Britain’s foreign isolation intensified, as it was unable to forge alliances with other significant European powers, a predicament that future administrations could not rectify, resulting in Britain engaging multiple adversaries during the American War of Independence without a principal ally.
• In 1765, King George III experienced his initial episode of mental illness, which impeded his ability to perform his royal responsibilities. Despite the brevity of his illness, it prompted the consideration of a Regency Council should the king be incapacitated for an extended period or upon his demise. As a result, Grenville presented the Regency Bill. The Regency Bill of 1765 stated that if the king should become permanently unable to rule, his spouse would become regent.
• The monarch stipulated that the regent must be either the queen or another member of the royal family; however, his ministers opted to exclude his mother due to her intimate association with Bute. George III perceived this as an affront and commanded the reinstatement of her name. Grenville also had to address the riots of silk weavers, which were instigated by the government’s inability to limit the importation of foreign silk. The king held Grenville responsible for the rioting.
• While Grenville served as minister, George III was expanding Buckingham House and despised Grenville’s insistence on austerity measures. The king desired his London dwelling to be appropriate for the monarchy and perceived Grenville as parsimonious. The king made several attempts to persuade Pitt to assist him by establishing a ministry, but to no avail, and ultimately turned to Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham. Upon Rockingham’s acceptance of office, the monarch removed Grenville in July 1765.

LATER LIFE

• Grenville entered opposition and did not assume office thereafter. He resisted any conciliatory measures for the American colonies, voting against the repeal of the Stamp Act. Grenville’s resistance to the majority of governmental initiatives led to a gradual erosion of his reputation as a politician. Following a phase of vigorous dissent against the Chatham Ministry under Pitt from 1766 to 1768, Grenville transitioned into an elder statesman in his latter years, endeavouring to dissociate himself from any faction or party inside the House of Commons.
• In late 1768, he reconciled with Pitt, and the two re-established their alliance, which had dissolved in 1761 when Pitt resigned from the ministry. Grenville passed away on 13 November 1770 at the age of 58. Following his death, his adherents fragmented, with several aligning themselves with Lord North’s administration. William Pitt the Younger revitalised the Grenvillites, serving as prime minister from 1783 and dominating British politics until his demise in 1806.