William Greville (died 1 October 1401) (alias Grevel, Graville, Grevill, etc.^[3]), of Chipping Campden in Gloucestershire and a Citizen of the City of London,^[4] was a prominent wool-merchant and is the ancestor of the present Greville Earls of Warwick.^[5] The Latin inscription on his ledger stone in Chipping Campden Church, which he rebuilt at his own expense, describes him as flos mercatorum lanar(iorum) tocius (totius) Angli(a)e, "the flower of the wool-merchants of all England".^[6] This language is reminiscent of that used to describe certain prominent knights such as Edward, the Black Prince (d.1376) who was described by Froissart (d. circa 1405) as la fleur de toutte chevalerie dou monde ("the flower of all chivalry of the world")^[7] and was likely intended to suggest a degree of equivalence between mercantile and martial activities".^[8] He was amongst the richest and most influential wool merchants of his era^[9] and was the leading purchaser of wool from the Cotswold Hills.^[10]

He was the son of William I Grevel (d.post 1397) of Chipping Campden, the son and heir of John Grevel (d.pre-1359) by his wife a certain Margaret.^[11] The Greville family is believed to be of Norman or Flemish origin and had settled in Chipping Campden by 1276.^[12] Leland (d.1552) stated: "Sum hold opinion that the Grevilles cam originally in at the Conquest",^[13] but although the name appears Norman in style,^[14] surviving records do not mention the family before the 13th century.^[15] The name is similar to that of Grenville of Bideford in Devon and of Stowe, Kilkhampton in Cornwall, later Earls of Bath, which is known to have had common ancestry with the Norman nobleman Richard de Grenville (died after 1142), one of the Twelve Knights of Glamorgan.

He was a Citizen of the City of London, as is stated on his ledger stone. He was a member of the Holy Trinity Guild in Coventry, whose other members included several members of Parliament for Bristol and the prominent merchant and royal financier Richard Whittington.^[16]

He married twice:

• Firstly to a certain Marion, possibly a daughter of Sir John Thornborough,^[17] by whom he had progeny six sons^[18] and two daughters,^[19] including:
  • Ludovic Greville,^[20] eldest son, of Drayton in Oxfordshire.^[21]
  • John Greville (died 1444), of Sezincote, Gloucestershire, seven times a member of parliament for Gloucestershire.^[22]
  • Alice Greville, wife of Edmund Ludlow (d.1409) of Ludlowes manor in Campden.^[23]
  • Mary Greville, wife of John Gifford of Harpre.^[24]

• Secondly to Joan Thornbury (d.1449), sister and heiress of Sir Philip Thornbury (d.1457),^[25] of Little Munden and Bygrave, Hertfordshire, thrice MP for Hertfordshire.^[26] Without surviving progeny. She survived him and re-married to Sir Edward Benstede (1353/5-1432), of Bennington, Hertfordshire, 5 times MP for Hertfordshire.

Greville invested much of his trading profits into land and buildings. His fine town house in Chipping Campden, situated nearly opposite the Woolstaplers' Hall, survives as one of the oldest buildings in that town.^[27] He purchased more than 14 houses in the town,^[28] as well as several nearby manors including:

• Lasborough;^[29]
• Meon;^[30]
• Milcote, Warwickshire. In 1398 he purchased from Sir Walter Beauchamp^[31] the manor of Milcote in Warwickshire and settled it on himself and his second wife Joan Thornbury (d.1449) in tail-male with successive remainders to his sons by his first wife, John, Lewis and William. Here his descendant Ludovic Greville (d.1589) in 1567 obtained royal licence to crenellate his grand new mansion house called "Mount Greville".^[32]
• Charlton Kings , Gloucestershire, which he purchased in 1386/7 from Sir John de Ros, son of James de Ros of Gednay, Lincolnshire.^[33]

He signed his will on 2 April 1401 and desired to be buried in the "Church of the Blessed Mary of Campden" and bequeathed 100 marks to "the new work to be carried on there". He founded a chantry there and ordered that four chaplains should sing mass daily for ten years^[34] for his soul and for those of his ancestors.^[35]

His descendant was Fulke Greville, 1st Baron Brooke (1554–1628) of Beauchamp's Court, Warwickshire, 5th Baron Willoughby de Broke and de jure 13th Baron Latimer, the famous Elizabethan poet and dramatist, who obtained a grant of Warwick Castle and its dependencies and was the ancestor of the Greville Earls of Warwick, which title is extant today.^[39] and of Christopher Brooke Fulke-Greville (b1951-), Debretts Peerage & Baronetage 2003.

• Davis, Cecil T., , Monumental Brasses of Gloucestershire, Gloucestershire Notes & Queries, London, 1899, pp. 22–5
• Edmondson, Joseph, An Historical and Genealogical Account of the Noble Family of Greville, London, 1766
• Gough, Vol.II, Plate IV, p. 10, engraving of brass.
• Bigland, Ralph, Collections for Gloucesshire, Vol.I, p. 283, engraving of brass.
• Boutells Series, Weekly Register, No.7, p. 105, engraving of brass.
• Boutells Heraldry, Plate XXXVII, illustration of coat of arms.
• Debretts. Peerage & Baronetage 2003, Greville family past and present.