Denis Granville
Encyclopedia
Denis Granville (1637–1703) was an English non-juring
churchman, Dean of Durham and then Jacobite
exile.
, Cornwall
. He matriculated as a gentleman-commoner of Exeter College, Oxford
on 6 August 1658. He was created M.A. in convocation 28 September 1660, and proceeded D.D. on 28 February 1671.
About 1660 he married Anne, fourth and youngest daughter of Bishop John Cosin
. Richard Sanderson ordained him in 1661, and on 10 July in the same year he succeeded, on the presentation of his eldest brother, John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath
, to the family living of Kilkhampton. Lord Bath also obtained for him a promise of the next vacant fellowship at Eton College
. Gilbert Sheldon
, Archbishop of Canterbury
, resisted this arrangement, but the king sent a peremptory mandate directing that it should be fulfilled. Before the next vacancy (in 1669) Granville exchanged the reversion for the prebendal stall of Langtoft in York Cathedral, held by Timothy Thriscrosse. He was collated to the first stall in Durham Cathedral
on 18 September 1662. He was appointed to the archdeaconry of Durham, with the rectory of Easington
annexed, in September 1662, and in 1664 to the rectory of Elwick Hall. He resigned Elwick Hall in 1667 on his institution to the rectory of Sedgefield
, and in 1668 he surrendered the first for the second stall, being installed on 16 February 1668.
With the assistance of Bishop Nathaniel Crew he obtained, in spite of Archbishop William Sancroft
's opposition, the deanery of Durham, to which he was instituted on 9 December 1684. Granville then vacated his stall, but held at the same time the deanery and archdeaconry of Durham, and the rectory of Sedgefield, described in his own words as ‘the best deanery, the best archdeaconry, and one of the best livings in England.’ He managed, however, to get into debt, and while archdeacon of Durham and one of the king's chaplains in ordinary he was arrested within the cloisters of the cathedral and imprisoned, though claiming his privileges. The matter was brought before the king in council, when he was freed, and the offending officials werepunished. His wife suffered from ‘occasional attacks of mental excitement;’ Granville was estranged from her father and her sister, Lady Gerrard. During 1678 and 1679 he retired with his sister, Lady Joanna Thornhill and her family to Tour D'Aigues in Provence
.
Granville was a High Church
cleric who worked at Durham to promote a weekly communion in the cathedral and continue John Cosin's line; he tried to use the cathedral as a seminary to fill the canon positions. He supported James II
, and on William of Orange
's landing raised £700 from the prebendaries of Durham for the king, giving £100 himself. He addressed the clergy of his archdeaconry on behalf of James, and even after Durham had been surprised by William's followers (Sunday, 9 December 1688) Granville delivered a loyal sermon. At midnight on 11 December he fled to Carlisle, and a few days later was taken on the border with Scotland, and was robbed of his horses and money. They were recovered by him when he had been brought back to Carlisle, and after a short stay at Durham he succeeded in escaping to Edinburgh
and landing at Honfleur
(19 March 1689). His wife was left destitute, but by order of the chapter of Durham she received an allowance. His goods at Durham were distrained by the sheriff for debt; Sir George Wheler
purchased the dean's library. Through family influence Grenville retained the revenues of his preferment for a time; but when he declined to take the oaths of allegiance to the new sovereigns he was deprived of them from 1 February 1691.
Except in February 1690, when he came incognito into England but was recognised at Canterbury
. and a second visit in April 1695, he remained in France. James nominated him for the archbishopric of York on the death of Lamplugh, and he was well treated by the ex-king's wife. Sums of money were occasionally sent to him from England, especially by Sir George Wheler and Thomas Higgons his nephew who were threatened with prosecution in 1698 by Sir George's son-in-law, an attorney with whom he had quarrelled. Granville was the most important churchman who accompanied James into exile, but was not allowed to perform the Anglican service; attempts were made to convert him to Catholicism
. He lived first at Rouen
, from 1698 to 1701 at Tremblay
, and later at Corbeil
. He fell ill at Corbeil on the night of 12 April 1703, was taken to Paris, and died on 18 April. His body was buried privately at night at the lower end of the consecrated ground of the Holy Innocents churchyard in Paris. The funeral was at the cost of Mary of Modena
. His wife died in October 1691, and was buried in Durham Cathedral
.
He addressed to his nephew Thomas, son of his sister, Bridget Grenville, by Sir Thomas Higgons, in 1685, an anonymous volume of ‘Counsel and Directions, Divine and Moral, in Plain and Familiar Letters of Advice.’ When in exile at Rouen he printed twenty copies of ‘The Resigned and Resolved Christian and Faithful and Undaunted Royalist in two plain farewell Sermons and a loyal farewell Visitation Speech. Whereunto are added certaine letters to his relations and friends in England.’ Letters from him are printed in Thomas Comber's Life of Thomas Comber
, pp. 139-334. John Locke
when in France in 1678 wrote three letters to Granville.
A narrative of his life was composed by a clergyman named Beaumont of the diocese of Durham. Two collections of his remains were made by the Surtees Society
. George Granville, 1st Baron Lansdowne
pronounced a eulogy on his virtues.
Nonjuring schism
The nonjuring schism was a split in the Church of England in the aftermath of the Glorious Revolution of 1688, over whether William of Orange and his wife Mary could legally be recognised as King and Queen of England....
churchman, Dean of Durham and then Jacobite
Jacobitism
Jacobitism was the political movement in Britain dedicated to the restoration of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England, Scotland, later the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Kingdom of Ireland...
exile.
Life
The youngest son of Sir Bevil Grenville, he was born 13 February 1637 and baptised at KilkhamptonKilkhampton
Kilkhampton is a village and civil parish in northeast Cornwall, United Kingdom. The village is situated on the A39 approximately four miles north-northeast of Bude.Kilkhampton was mentioned in the Domesday Book as "Chilchetone"...
, Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
. He matriculated as a gentleman-commoner of Exeter College, Oxford
Exeter College, Oxford
Exeter College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England and the fourth oldest college of the University. The main entrance is on the east side of Turl Street...
on 6 August 1658. He was created M.A. in convocation 28 September 1660, and proceeded D.D. on 28 February 1671.
About 1660 he married Anne, fourth and youngest daughter of Bishop John Cosin
John Cosin
John Cosin was an English churchman.-Life:He was born at Norwich, and was educated at Norwich grammar school and at Caius College, Cambridge, where he was scholar and afterwards fellow. On taking orders he was appointed secretary to Bishop Overall of Lichfield, and then domestic chaplain to...
. Richard Sanderson ordained him in 1661, and on 10 July in the same year he succeeded, on the presentation of his eldest brother, John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath
John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath
John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath PC was an English royalist statesman, whose highest position was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland....
, to the family living of Kilkhampton. Lord Bath also obtained for him a promise of the next vacant fellowship at Eton College
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
. Gilbert Sheldon
Gilbert Sheldon
Gilbert Sheldon was an English Archbishop of Canterbury.-Early life:He was born in Stanton, Staffordshire in the parish of Ellastone, on 19 July 1598, the youngest son of Roger Sheldon; his father worked for Gilbert Talbot, 7th Earl of Shrewsbury. He was educated at Trinity College, Oxford; he...
, Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
, resisted this arrangement, but the king sent a peremptory mandate directing that it should be fulfilled. Before the next vacancy (in 1669) Granville exchanged the reversion for the prebendal stall of Langtoft in York Cathedral, held by Timothy Thriscrosse. He was collated to the first stall in Durham Cathedral
Durham Cathedral
The Cathedral Church of Christ, Blessed Mary the Virgin and St Cuthbert of Durham is a cathedral in the city of Durham, England, the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Durham. The Bishopric dates from 995, with the present cathedral being founded in AD 1093...
on 18 September 1662. He was appointed to the archdeaconry of Durham, with the rectory of Easington
Easington
Easington may refer to one of several places:in England:*Easington, Lancashire, Forest of Bowland*Easington, County Durham, a town in County Durham**Easington , a local government district in County Durham...
annexed, in September 1662, and in 1664 to the rectory of Elwick Hall. He resigned Elwick Hall in 1667 on his institution to the rectory of Sedgefield
Sedgefield
Sedgefield is a small town and civil parish in County Durham, England. It has a population of 4,534.Sedgefield has attracted particular attention as the Member of Parliament for the wider Sedgefield constituency was the former Prime Minister Tony Blair; he was the area's MP from 1983 to 2008,...
, and in 1668 he surrendered the first for the second stall, being installed on 16 February 1668.
With the assistance of Bishop Nathaniel Crew he obtained, in spite of Archbishop William Sancroft
William Sancroft
William Sancroft was the 79th Archbishop of Canterbury.- Life :Sancroft was born at Ufford Hall in Fressingfield, Suffolk, son of Francis Sandcroft and Margaret Sandcroft née Butcher...
's opposition, the deanery of Durham, to which he was instituted on 9 December 1684. Granville then vacated his stall, but held at the same time the deanery and archdeaconry of Durham, and the rectory of Sedgefield, described in his own words as ‘the best deanery, the best archdeaconry, and one of the best livings in England.’ He managed, however, to get into debt, and while archdeacon of Durham and one of the king's chaplains in ordinary he was arrested within the cloisters of the cathedral and imprisoned, though claiming his privileges. The matter was brought before the king in council, when he was freed, and the offending officials werepunished. His wife suffered from ‘occasional attacks of mental excitement;’ Granville was estranged from her father and her sister, Lady Gerrard. During 1678 and 1679 he retired with his sister, Lady Joanna Thornhill and her family to Tour D'Aigues in Provence
Provence
Provence ; Provençal: Provença in classical norm or Prouvènço in Mistralian norm) is a region of south eastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative région of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur...
.
Granville was a High Church
High church
The term "High Church" refers to beliefs and practices of ecclesiology, liturgy and theology, generally with an emphasis on formality, and resistance to "modernization." Although used in connection with various Christian traditions, the term has traditionally been principally associated with the...
cleric who worked at Durham to promote a weekly communion in the cathedral and continue John Cosin's line; he tried to use the cathedral as a seminary to fill the canon positions. He supported James II
James II of England
James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
, and on William of Orange
William of Orange
William of Orange usually refers to either:*William the Silent, William I, , Prince of Orange, founder of the House Orange-Nassau and the Netherlands as a state...
's landing raised £700 from the prebendaries of Durham for the king, giving £100 himself. He addressed the clergy of his archdeaconry on behalf of James, and even after Durham had been surprised by William's followers (Sunday, 9 December 1688) Granville delivered a loyal sermon. At midnight on 11 December he fled to Carlisle, and a few days later was taken on the border with Scotland, and was robbed of his horses and money. They were recovered by him when he had been brought back to Carlisle, and after a short stay at Durham he succeeded in escaping to Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
and landing at Honfleur
Honfleur
Honfleur is a commune in the Calvados department in northwestern France. It is located on the southern bank of the estuary of the Seine across from le Havre and very close to the exit of the Pont de Normandie...
(19 March 1689). His wife was left destitute, but by order of the chapter of Durham she received an allowance. His goods at Durham were distrained by the sheriff for debt; Sir George Wheler
Sir George Wheler
-Life:The son of Charles Wheler of Charing, Kent, colonel in the Life Guards, by his wife Anne, daughter of John Hutchin of Egerton, Kent, he was born at Breda in Holland, where his parents, who were Royalists, were in exile. He was educated at a school in Wye, Kent and Lincoln College, Oxford,...
purchased the dean's library. Through family influence Grenville retained the revenues of his preferment for a time; but when he declined to take the oaths of allegiance to the new sovereigns he was deprived of them from 1 February 1691.
Except in February 1690, when he came incognito into England but was recognised at Canterbury
Canterbury
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....
. and a second visit in April 1695, he remained in France. James nominated him for the archbishopric of York on the death of Lamplugh, and he was well treated by the ex-king's wife. Sums of money were occasionally sent to him from England, especially by Sir George Wheler and Thomas Higgons his nephew who were threatened with prosecution in 1698 by Sir George's son-in-law, an attorney with whom he had quarrelled. Granville was the most important churchman who accompanied James into exile, but was not allowed to perform the Anglican service; attempts were made to convert him to Catholicism
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
. He lived first at Rouen
Rouen
Rouen , in northern France on the River Seine, is the capital of the Haute-Normandie region and the historic capital city of Normandy. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe , it was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages...
, from 1698 to 1701 at Tremblay
Tremblay
Tremblay is a French language surname. It is the most common family name in Quebec . In France, it is more a place-name.-People:*Arthur Tremblay, Canadian politician...
, and later at Corbeil
Corbeil
- Places :* Corbeil, Ontario, Canada* Corbeil-Essonnes, Essonne, France, a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris* The Corbeil Cathedral* Corbeil, Marne, France, a commune in north-eastern France...
. He fell ill at Corbeil on the night of 12 April 1703, was taken to Paris, and died on 18 April. His body was buried privately at night at the lower end of the consecrated ground of the Holy Innocents churchyard in Paris. The funeral was at the cost of Mary of Modena
Mary of Modena
Mary of Modena was Queen consort of England, Scotland and Ireland as the second wife of King James II and VII. A devout Catholic, Mary became, in 1673, the second wife of James, Duke of York, who later succeeded his older brother Charles II as King James II...
. His wife died in October 1691, and was buried in Durham Cathedral
Durham Cathedral
The Cathedral Church of Christ, Blessed Mary the Virgin and St Cuthbert of Durham is a cathedral in the city of Durham, England, the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Durham. The Bishopric dates from 995, with the present cathedral being founded in AD 1093...
.
Works
Grenville when an undergraduate at Oxford contributed verses to the university collection of loyal poems printed in 1660, with the title of ‘Britannia Rediviva.’ On his appointment to the archdeaconry of Durham in 1662 he issued and reissued in the next year ‘Article of Enquiry concerning Matters Ecclesiastical’ for the officials of every parish in the diocese. In 1664 he printed a sermon and a letter, entitled ‘The Compleat Conformist, or Seasonable Advice concerning strict Conformity and frequent Celebration of the Holy Communion.’He addressed to his nephew Thomas, son of his sister, Bridget Grenville, by Sir Thomas Higgons, in 1685, an anonymous volume of ‘Counsel and Directions, Divine and Moral, in Plain and Familiar Letters of Advice.’ When in exile at Rouen he printed twenty copies of ‘The Resigned and Resolved Christian and Faithful and Undaunted Royalist in two plain farewell Sermons and a loyal farewell Visitation Speech. Whereunto are added certaine letters to his relations and friends in England.’ Letters from him are printed in Thomas Comber's Life of Thomas Comber
Thomas Comber (dean of Durham)
-Life:From a family at Barkham, Sussex, his father, James Comber, was the fourth son of John Comber, who was uncle to Thomas Comber, dean of Carlisle. His mother was Mary, daughter of Bryan Burton of Westerham, Kent, and widow of Edward Hampden...
, pp. 139-334. John Locke
John Locke
John Locke FRS , widely known as the Father of Liberalism, was an English philosopher and physician regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers. Considered one of the first of the British empiricists, following the tradition of Francis Bacon, he is equally important to social...
when in France in 1678 wrote three letters to Granville.
A narrative of his life was composed by a clergyman named Beaumont of the diocese of Durham. Two collections of his remains were made by the Surtees Society
Surtees Society
The Surtees Society is a learned society based at Durham in northern England. The society was established on 27 May 1834 by James Raine, following the death of renowned County Durham antiquarian Robert Surtees...
. George Granville, 1st Baron Lansdowne
George Granville, 1st Baron Lansdowne
George Granville, 1st Baron Lansdowne PC was an English poet, playwright, and politician who served as a Privy Counsellor from 1712.-Early life:...
pronounced a eulogy on his virtues.