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Question
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I would be most grateful for any guidance you can give me with regard to my research on Lt. Col. Henry Francis Greville (b. Aug 10th., 1760, d. Jan 13th., 1816) stated to be, with the Countess of Buckinghamshire, a Co-Founder of the Famous Pic-Nic Society of aristocrats, founded in 1802.
Lt. Col. Greville was the son of the famous Fulke Greville and my recollection is that the Grevilles were established at Wilbury, Wiltshire.
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Question asked on
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12 December 2005
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Answer
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Fulke Greville (1717-1806) was well born, wealthy and quite a good writer. He published the well received Maxims and Characters in 1756. He was briefly M.P. for Monmouth and owned Wilbury at Newton Tony from c.1739 - c.1783. In 1748 he eloped with Frances Maccartney, who came from an aristocratic Irish family and was celebrated for her clever verses. It would seem that she was a far better writer than her husband and there is evidence that he suppressed her work or that she deliberately did not produce good work during the marriage. A daughter, Frances Anne, was baptised at Newton Tony in 1748 but the Grevilles then lived abroad and three sons were born between 1750 and 1753. Another son, Robert, was baptised at Newton Tony in 1758 but other sons, Henry in 1760 and Charles in 1762, were born and baptised elsewhere.
Fanny Burney, god daughter of Frances Maccartney, described Fulke as 'the finest gentleman about town . . . . high birth and with a splendid fortune'. Unfortunately, like many 18th century gentlemen, Fulke was addicted to gambling for high stakes and his fortune was seriously depleted by gambling. Facing ruin in 1782 he was forced to sell Wilbury and pursued his wife's personal fortune, forcing her to flee to relatives in Ireland. There was a legal separation in 1788 and Frances died in 1789 worn out by debts and acrimony. It would seem that Fulke wasted both his own talents and his wife's greater ones as well as losing a great deal of money.
Unfortunately I cannot find anything on Henry Greville and although he may have lived at Wilbury as a child he has left no records in the county.
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