John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville, 7th Seigneur of Sark, KG, PC (/kɑːrtəˈrɛt/; 22 April 1690 – 2 January 1763), commonly known by his earlier title Lord Carteret, was a British statesman and Lord President of the Council from 1751 to 1763 and worked closely with the Prime Minister of the country, Spencer Compton, Earl of Wilmington, to manage the various factions of the Government.

He was a friend of the Whig leaders Stanhope and Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland, and supported the passing of the Septennial Act.

[6] During this period of diplomatic work he acquired an exceptional knowledge of the affairs of Europe, and in particular of Germany, and displayed great tact and temper in dealing with the Swedish Riksdag, Ulrike Eleonora of Sweden, Frederick IV of Denmark and Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia.

Appointed as Secretary of State for the Southern Department on his return home, he soon came into conflict with the intrigues of Townshend and Sir Robert Walpole.

When, therefore, the violent agitation in Ireland against Wood's halfpence made it necessary to replace the Duke of Grafton as Lord Lieutenant, Carteret was sent to Dublin, where he landed on 23 October 1724.

[7] In the first months of his tenure of office, he had to deal with the furious opposition to Wood's halfpence and to counteract the effect of Swift's Drapier's Letters.

It is highly doubtful that Carteret could have reconciled his duty to the crown with his private friendships if the government had persisted in endeavouring to force the detested coinage on the Irish people.

Carteret's share was later defined as a 60-mile wide strip of land in North Carolina adjoining the Virginia boundary, and became known as the Granville District.

[citation needed] When Carteret returned to London in 1730, Walpole was firmly in charge of the House of Commons and as the trusted Minister of King George II.

[citation needed] However, he reluctantly and most unwisely allowed himself to be entangled in the scandalous family quarrel between Frederick, Prince of Wales, and his parents.

Granville's ostentatious performance of the part of lover was ridiculed by Horace Walpole as "The nuptials of our great Quixote and the fair Sophia"[6] and "My lord stayed with her there till four in the morning.

The Countess Granville died on 7 October 1745, leaving one daughter, Sophia Carteret, who married William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne, later 1st Marquess of Lansdowne.

In June 1751, he became president of the council and was still liked and trusted by the King, but his share in government did not go beyond giving advice and endeavouring to forward ministerial arrangements.

[11] She died the following year of a fever, several months following the birth of their only daughter:[10] He remained in office as President of the Privy Council until his death on 2 January 1763.

His last act was to listen on his deathbed to the reading of the preliminaries of the Treaty of Paris by the Under-Secretary to the Secretary of State, Robert Wood, author of an essay on The Original Genius and Writings of Homer, who would have postponed the business, but Granville said that it "could not prolong his life to neglect his duty" and quoted in ancient Greek the speech of Sarpedon from the Iliad xii.

"However, in the course of that active period, the duties of my situation engaged me in an occasional attendance upon a nobleman, who, while he presided at his Majesty's councils, reserved some moments for literary amusement.

Being directed to wait upon his Lordship, a few days before he died, with the preliminary articles of the Treaty of Paris, I found him so languid, that I proposed postponing my business for another time: but he insisted that I should stay, saying, it could not prolong his life, to neglect his duty; and repeating the following passage, out of Sarpedon's speech, he dwelled with particular emphasis on the third line, which recalled to his mind the distinguishing part, he had taken in public affairs.