Excavations he did with Arthur Surridge Hunt uncovered manuscripts including the oldest Oxyrhynchus Papyri.

He was born in Birmingham and brought up and educated at Clifton College in Bristol, where his father taught.

Other notable finds are extensive, including previously unknown works by known classical authors.

In 1895, Grenfell and Hunt were the first archaeologists to explore the site of Karanis (present Kom Aushim) in Fayum.

[1] In 1908, he became professor of papyrology at Oxford and was part of the editing team of The Oxyrynchus Papyri and other similar works.