This surname is English but of Norman-French origins. It is locational from the village of Greville in the departement of La Manche, Normandy, France. The derivation is from the pre 7th century personal name Creiz and the Old French word "ville", meaning a settlement. Lower in his his famous book "Patronymica Britannica" states that Greville is a parish at the extremity of the isthmus of La Hague. The surname itself first appears in records in the mid 12th Century (see below), and early recordings include those of John de Greville in the Hundred Rolls of Wiltshire in 1273, whilst his grandson William Greville made a loan to King Richard 11nd in 1397. His descendants include Faulke Greville (1554 - 1628), a favourite of Elizabeth 1st, who was granted the earldom of Warwick. Shirley's "Noble and Gentle Men" says that "The family was founded by William Grevel, the flower of the wool merchants in the whole realm of England". He died at Campden, in Gloucestershire in 1401. Robert Greville (1608 - 1643), was the second Baron Brook and speaker of the House of Lords in 1642. He was a parliamentarian general who was killed at Lichfield in the same year. Another namebearer, Algernon Frederick Greville (1789 - 1864), was private secretary to the Duke of Wellington from 1827 - 1842, having been his aide-de-camp and ensign in the Grenadier Guards at Waterloo. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William de Greiuill. This was dated 1154, in the Pipe Rolls of Northumberland. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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