John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville

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John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville bigraphy, stories - British diplomat

John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville : biography

22 April 1690 – 22 January 1763

John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville, 7th Seigneur of Sark, KG, PC ( 22 April 1690 – 22 January 1763), commonly known by his earlier title as Lord Carteret, was a British statesman and Lord President of the Council from 1751 to 1763; effectively leader of the country when Spencer Compton was Prime Minister.G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors. The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume XII/1, page 153.

Family

The family of Carteret was settled in the Channel Islands, and was of Norman descent. John was the son of George Carteret, 1st Baron Carteret (1667–1695), by his marriage with Grace Granville (3 September 1654 – 18 October 1744), daughter of Sir John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath (29 August 1628 – August 1701). On his mother’s side of the family he was a descendant of the Elizabethan admiral Sir Richard Grenville, famous for his death in the Revenge at the Battle of Flores. John was Seigneur of Sark from 1715 to 1720 when he sold the fief. He held (in absentia) the office of Bailiff of Jersey from 1715.

He married Frances Worsley and had at least 6 children :- Louisa Carteret (circa 1712 – 1736) married Thomas Thynne (21 May 1710 – 1751) 2nd Viscount Weymouth and had issue Grace Carteret (b.08 Jul 1713, bap 22 Jul 1713 St James, Westminster) Georgiana Carolina Carteret (b.12 Mar 1715, bap 05 Apr 1715 St Martin In The Fields, Westminster) George Carteret (b.14 Feb 1716, bap 11 Mar 1716 St Martin In The Fields, Westminster) Frances Carteret (b.06 Apr 1718, bap 1 May 1718 St Martin In The Fields, Westminster) Robert Carteret (b.21 Sep 1721, bap 17 Oct 1721 St Martin In The Fields, Westminster)

Earl Granville

On 18 October 1744 Carteret became Earl Granville on the death of his mother. His first wife died on 20 June 1743 at Hanover, and in April 1744 he married Lady Sophia Fermor, daughter of Lord Pomfret and Henrietta Louisa Fermor—a fashionable beauty and "reigning toast" of London society, who was younger than his daughters. "The nuptials of our great Quixote and the fair Sophia" and Granville’s ostentatious performance of the part of lover were ridiculed by Horace Walpole.

The Countess Granville died on 7 October 1745, leaving one daughter Sophia, who married William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne, later 1st Marquess of Lansdowne. Granville’s second marriage may have done something to increase his reputation for eccentricity. In February 1746 he allowed himself to be entrapped by the intrigues of the Pelhams into accepting the secretaryship, but resigned in forty-eight hours. In June 1751 he became President of the Council, and was still liked and trusted by the King, but his share in government did not go beyond giving advice, and endeavouring to forward ministerial arrangements. In 1756 he was asked by Newcastle to become Prime Minister as the alternative to Pitt, but Granville, who perfectly understood why the offer was made, declined and supported Pitt. When in October 1761 Pitt, who had information of the signing of the "Family Compact" wished to declare war on Spain, and declared his intention to resign unless his advice was accepted, Granville replied that "the opinion of the majority (of the Cabinet) must decide". He spoke in complimentary terms of Pitt but resisted his claim to be considered as a "sole minister" or Prime Minister.

Whether he used the words attributed to him in the Annual Register for 1761 is more than doubtful, but the minutes of Council show that they express his meaning.

Popular culture

John Carteret is depicted in the 2011 film Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides by Anton Lesser.

Early life

John Carteret was educated at Westminster School, and at Christ Church, Oxford. Jonathan Swift says that "with a singularity scarce to be justified he carried away more Greek, Latin and philosophy than properly became a person of his rank". Throughout life Carteret not only showed a keen love of the classics, but a taste for and knowledge of modern languages and literature. He was almost the only Englishman of his time who knew German (which allowed him to talk with George I, who spoke no English). Harte, the author of the Life of Gustavus Adolphus, acknowledged the aid which Carteret had given him.