Thomas Grenville was a British

Kingdom of Great Britain

The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...

 naval officer and Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 for Bridport

Bridport (UK Parliament constituency)

Bridport was a parliamentary borough in Dorset, which elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons from 1295 until 1868, and then one member from 1868 until 1885, when the borough was abolished.-History:...

. He was born in 1719 the son of Richard Grenville.

He was the brother of George Grenville

George Grenville

George Grenville was a British Whig statesman who rose to the position of Prime Minister of Great Britain. Grenville was born into an influential political family and first entered Parliament in 1741 as an MP for Buckingham...

, who served as Prime Minister between 1763 and 1765. He was brother-in-law to William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham

William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham

William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham PC was a British Whig statesman who led Britain during the Seven Years' War...

. He was politically close to both men as all were Cobham Cubs

Cobhamites

The Cobhamite faction were an 18th century British political faction built around Richard Temple, 1st Viscount Cobham and his supporters. Perhaps most notably the group contained the future Prime Ministers William Pitt and George Grenville...

 of the Patriot Whig persuasion, a grouping led by his uncle Lord Cobham

Richard Temple, 1st Viscount Cobham

Field Marshal Richard Temple, 1st Viscount Cobham PC was a British soldier and Whig politician. He was known for his ownership of and modifications to the estate at Stowe and for serving as a political mentor to the young William Pitt.-Early life:Temple was the son of Sir Richard Temple, 3rd...

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He was elected as MP for the naval town of Bridport

Bridport

Bridport is a market town in Dorset, England. Located near the coast at the western end of Chesil Beach at the confluence of the River Brit and its Asker and Simene tributaries, it originally thrived as a fishing port and rope-making centre...

 in 1746. After his death following year he was succeeded by his brother James Grenville

James Grenville

James Grenville was a British politician.He was born at Wotton in 1715 into the influential Grenville political family and was one of five brothers who went into politics...

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Naval career

Grenville joined the navy as a Midshipman

Midshipman

A midshipman is an officer cadet, or a commissioned officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Kenya...

 in the 1730s, ultimately rising to the rank of Captain

Captain (Royal Navy)

Captain is a senior officer rank of the Royal Navy. It ranks above Commander and below Commodore and has a NATO ranking code of OF-5. The rank is equivalent to a Colonel in the British Army or Royal Marines and to a Group Captain in the Royal Air Force. The rank of Group Captain is based on the...

. Grenville was killed at the Battle of Cape Finisterre

First battle of Cape Finisterre (1747)

The First Battle of Cape Finisterre saw 14 British ships of the line under Admiral George Anson attack a French 30-ship convoy commanded by Admiral de la Jonquière during the War of the Austrian Succession. The British captured 4 ships of the line, 2 frigates and 7 merchantmen, in a five-hour...

 in May 1747 during the War of the Austrian Succession

War of the Austrian Succession

The War of the Austrian Succession  – including King George's War in North America, the Anglo-Spanish War of Jenkins' Ear, and two of the three Silesian wars – involved most of the powers of Europe over the question of Maria Theresa's succession to the realms of the House of Habsburg.The...

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