Charles Granville, 2nd Earl of Bath

Charles Granville, 2nd Earl of Bath (bapt. 31 August 1661 – 4 September 1701) was an English soldier, politician, diplomat, courtier and peer.

Born with the courtesy title of Lord Lansdown (after the territorial designation of his father's viscountcy of Granville) in 1661, he was the eldest son of John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath and his wife, the former Jane Wyche. On 22 May 1678, he married Lady Martha Osborne, the fourth daughter of Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds. They had no children.

On 19 November 1680, Granville was elected as Member of Parliament for Launceston following the by-election caused by the death of Sir John Coryton, Bt. but was defeated by William Harbord in the following general election of February 1681. In 1683, he fought in the Battle of Vienna on the Habsburg side and was created a Count of the Holy Roman Empire for his services, on 27 January 1684.

Granville returned to Parliament after being elected MP for Cornwall in 1685 and was also appointed ambassador to Spain that year. After his defeat to Hugh Boscawen and Sir John Carew, 3rd Baronet, he was called to the House of Lords in his father's barony of Granville in 1689, appointed Joint Lord Lieutenant of Devon and Cornwall alongside his father in 1691 and a Lord of the Bedchamber in 1692. His wife had died in 1689 and on 10 May 1691 (N.S.), he married Isabella, the sister of Henry de Nassau d'Auverquerque, 1st Earl of Grantham. They had one son, William Henry.

Granville inherited his father's earldom of Bath on 22 August 1701 and committed suicide the following month, allegedly overwhelmed by the burden of debts his father had left behind. Both father and son were buried on 22 September that year, in the family vault at Kilkhampton, Cornwall. His titles passed to his only son, William (1691–1711).

References

• Leo van der Pas. Charles Granville, 2nd Earl of Bath (1661-1701), from Brigitte Gastel-Lloyd's Worldroots website. Retrieved 7 October 2009.