Grenville (Greynvile), Sir Richard

(1542-1591)

   The son of Sir Roger Greynvile, who commanded the Mary Rose and was lost when it sank in 1545. Sir Richard's single poem "In Praise of Seafaring Men, in Hopes (or hope) of Good Fortune" inspired Alfred, Lord Tennyson (see entry) to write "The Re158 venge: A Ballad of the Fleet." Sir Richard's exploits can be summarized: fought against the Turks in Hungary, 1566-1568; helped to suppress an uprising in Munster, Ireland, 1568-1569; developed plans to locate a northwest passage from England to China, 1573-1575 (the expedition was never made, but Sir Francis Drake adopted the plan for his circumnavigation voyage of 1577-1580); commanded the fleet that carried 100 English colonists to Roanoke Island, North Carolina, 1585; worked to establish a plantation in the Irish province of Munster, 1589-1591; was second in command of the Revenge in a squadron of about 15 vessels sent to intercept a Spanish treasure fleet off the Azores. After a long battle, the Revenge with all hands was captured. Grenville was wounded and died on board the Spanish flagship in 1591.

   Sources: Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite DVD, 2006. The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry, Columbia University Press, 2005 (http://www.columbiagrangers.org).