| The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07. |
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| Granville, John Carteret, 1st Earl |
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| 1690–1763, English statesman, better known as Lord Carteret. He served as ambassador to Sweden (1719–20) and as a secretary of state (1721–24), but his favor with George I posed a threat to Robert Walpole, who finally forced his resignation and sent (1724) him to Ireland as lord lieutenant. There he dealt skillfully with the agitation against the new English currency patent, which Jonathan Swift attacked in his Drapier Letters. The patent was withdrawn in 1725, and Carteret became quite popular. Returning to England in 1730, he led the opposition that in 1742 finally accomplished Walpole’s downfall. He was the chief minister in the new cabinet but soon became unpopular because he supported George II’s Hanoverian policies and aided Maria Theresa in the War of the Austrian Succession. He was dismissed in 1744 and, although he served (1751–63) as lord president of the council, he never regained much influence. |
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| | | The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright © 2007 Columbia University Press. |
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