Richard Grenville

About

English soldier, politician, and explorer who helped to colonize the New World and died fighting the Spanish Armada in the Battle of Flores.

Before Fame

He served as Sheriff of Cork and later of Cornwall, and he represented Cornwall in Parliament

Trivia

His final battle with the Spanish Armada was immortalized in The Revenge: A Ballad of the Fleet, a poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson that takes its name from the ship he sailed.

Family Life

He married Mary St. Leger in 1565 and the two had four sons.

Associated With

He had two famous explorer cousins: Sir Walter Raleigh and Sir Francis Drake.