Bevil Grenville

Sir Bevil Grenville (23 March 1596 – 5 July 1643) was an English landowner and soldier who sat as a Member of Parliament for various constituencies between 1620 and 1642, although during those years there were few parliamentary sessions. When the First English Civil War broke out in August 1642, he joined the Royalists and played a leading role in their early campaigns in the West Country. He was killed in action at the Battle of Lansdowne in 1643. Early life Bevil Grenville was born 23 March 1596 in Lower Brynn, near Withiel, Cornwall, eldest son of Sir Bernard Grenville (1567–1636) and Elizabeth Bevil (1564–1636), and grandson of Elizabethan hero and naval captain, Sir Richard Grenville (1542–1591). He had a younger brother, Richard (1600–1659), who later also fought for the Royalists during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, acquiring a reputation for brutality and greed. Grenville entered Exeter College, Oxford , in 1611, and graduated in 1614, later saying he had failed to benefit much from his time there. He spent the next four years at Court, supervised by Endymion Porter, a close friend of his father and of the future Charles I. In 1618, Grenville married Grace Smith (died 1647), daughter of Sir George Smith, three times Mayor of Exeter and one of its wealthiest citizens, an important consideration given his father's sizeable debts. They went on to have twelve children, including Richard (born 1620, died young), John (1628–1701), Dennis (died 1702), Bernard (1631–1701), Elizabeth, Bridget, Joanna and Grace.