Henry Francis Greville

Lt-Col. Henry Francis Greville (10 August 1760 – 13 January 1816) was a British impresario.

Early life and military career He was the son of Member of Parliament Fulke Greville and poet Frances Greville.

In 1777 he was appointed an ensign in the Coldstream Guards, and in 1781 was promoted to lieutenant. Deployed to North America during the American Revolutionary War, he became a prisoner of war (POW) following the British surrender at Yorktown. In May 1782, he was one of 13 POWs forced to draw lots to determine which one should be executed in retaliation for the execution of a patriot captain by Loyalists, in what became known as the Asgill Affair.

In 1790, he was appointed to the 4th Regiment of Dragoon Guards to serve in Ireland as lieutenant-colonel.

Theatrical career The Pic-Nic Orchestra, watercolor, c. 1802, by Edward Francis Burney after the etching by James Gillray. Henry Francis Greville appears playing the violin. Lord Edgcumbe is on the cello, and Lord Cholmondeley is on the flute. While in the army he became interested in theatricals, and after leaving the army tried to organize professional theatre shows. His first "theatrical fête" was in 1801, and included supper for his friends, intended to mean a picnic, which he intended as a potluck. Based on the success of this venture, he decided to form a Pic-Nic Society the next year, which lasted only one year, although an unsuccessful attempt was made to revive it the following year. In January 1803, he began a weekly newspaper, the Pic-Nic, to report theatrical affairs, which he handed over to William Combe in February.

In 1803, he purchased the lease on a mansion on Little Argyll Street from Hylton Jolliffe for £70. After making alterations and adding to it, in 1806 he gave two balls, the first of which was on 2 June and was attended by the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cambridge and the Duchess of York. He went abroad in 1812, possibly as a condition of his family helping with his debts, and died on 13 January 1816 in Port Louis, Mauritius.