Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Greville, Henry William
GREVILLE, HENRY WILLIAM (1801–1872), diarist, youngest son of Charles Greville, grandson of the fifth Lord Warwick, by Lady Charlotte Cavendish Bentinck, eldest daughter of William Henry, third duke of Portland, born on 28 Oct. 1801, was educated at Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford, where he graduated B.A. 4 June 1823. Much of his boyhood was spent on the continent, chiefly at Brussels, where his family resided. He thus learned to speak French and Italian with fluency. He was taken by the Duke of Wellington to the celebrated ball given by the Duchess of Richmond at Brussels on the night before the battle of Waterloo. He became private secretary to Lord Francis Egerton [q. v.], afterwards earl of Ellesmere, when chief secretary for Ireland. From 1834 to 1844 he was attaché to the British embassy in Paris. He afterwards held the post of gentleman usher at court. He was fond of society, of music, and the drama. Miss Fanny (Frances Anne) Kemble knew him well, and describes his fine voice and handsome appearance in her 'Records of a Girlhood,' iii. 173. He died on 12 Dec. 1872 at his house in Mayfair. Like his brother, Charles Cavendish Fulke Greville [q. v.], he kept during many years of his life a diary of such events, public and private, as specially interested him, a portion of which has been edited by his niece, Viscountess Enfield, under the title, 'Leaves from the Diary of Henry Greville,' 1883-4, 2 vols. 8vo. The `Diary' derives its chief importance as an historical authority from the author's position at Paris between 1834 and 1844; otherwise, though agreeably written, it is of no special interest or value.
[Memoir by Viscountess Enfield prefixed to vol. ii. of the Diary; Cat. Grad. Oxf.]