Beville Granville was born in London in April 1665, the son of Bernard Granville and his wife Anne Morley. His uncle, and patron, was John Granville, Earl of Bath, who raised the regiment in which Beville served. He studied at Trinity College, Cambridge and spent some time in Paris before he was commissioned in June 1685. He was knighted by King James II in 1686, promoted to major the next year, and lieutenant-colonel in 1688, the year that William of Orange landed at Torbay. The Earl of Bath’s Regiment was stationed at Plymouth where the Earl was Governor, but Sir Beville was posted to Jersey with half the regiment. His removal to the Channel Isles may have been because Sir Beville had shown signs of sympathy for the Jacobite cause.
The regiment was brought together to serve in the Nine Years War and Sir Beville distinguished himself at the battle of Steenkerque in August 1692, as well as the forcing of the French lines in 1693. On 29 October 1693, The Earl of Bath relinquished the colonelcy and Sir Beville was appointed Colonel of the Regiment in his place. Lieutenant-Colonel Sidney Godolphin took over as commanding officer.
He commanded a brigade in the campaign of 1695, and during the siege of Namur he fought a duel with Henry de Caumont, Marquess de Rada, a Huguenot exile. The Marquess was wounded and died later. The regiment returned to England in 1696 and Sir Beville was appointed Governor of Pendennis Castle in Cornwall. His regiment was posted to Northern Europe under the Earl of Marlborough but Sir Bevil was appointed Governor of Barbados. He relinquished colonelcy of the regiment and sailed there in 1703. However, it was a disatrous appointment as he developed poor health and was accused by the Parliament of Barbados of ‘tyranny and extortion’. There was a hearing on 20 July 1705 in which he was honourably acquitted. He sailed back to England in 1706 but died of fever on board ship on 15th September.
There is no known portrait of Sir Beville. The accompanying watercolour was painted by Richard Simkin based on a contemporary description of officers of the recently raised regiment of John Granville, Earl of Bath (later 10th Foot). Beville Granville was commissioned as a captain in the regiment in June 1685 and by 1687 he was a major.
