Richard Temple Nugent Brydges Chandos Grenville, officially known as Richard Plantagenet Campbell Temple Nugent Brydges Chandos Grenville, 3rd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos GCSI, PC, served as the Governor of Madras Presidency from the year 1875 to 1880, in the erstwhile undivided India under the rule of the British Empire. He was styled as Earl Temple until the year 1839 and Marquess of Chandos from 1839 to 1861. Grenville was also a well known politician, British soldier and a colonial administrator in British India. He also acted as the Secretary of State for the Colonies from the year 1867 to 1868.

Early Life of Richard Temple Nugent Brydges Chandos Grenville
Richard Temple Nugent Brydges Chandos Grenville was born on 10 September 1823 to the parents Richard Temple Grenville, 2nd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos and Lady Mary, younger daughter of the 4th Earl of Breadalbane and Holland. As the only son of his father, Grenville was heir apparent and was styled Earl Temple from birth. After his father Richard Temple Grenville became the 2nd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos. Hence Richard Temple Nugent Brydges Chandos Grenville was styled Marquess of Chandos until he succeeded his father as Duke. He completed his studied from Eton College and later and matriculated from Christ Church in Oxford. After the completion of his matriculation examination, Grenville was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Royal Buckinghamshire Yeomanry. Later he was promoted to the ranks of honorary Colonel of the regiment.

Career of Richard Temple Nugent Brydges Chandos Grenville
In the year 1846, Richard Plantagenet Campbell Temple Nugent Brydges Chandos Grenville, 3rd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos GCSI, PC entered politics and joined Parliament as Conservative MP for Buckinghamshire. He was made a Deputy Lieutenant for Oxfordshire, Hampshire and Northamptonshire. Grenville became Lord of the Treasury in the administration of Lord Derby in the year 1852. Later he was appointed to the Privy Council and became Lord President of the Council in 1866. He also acted as Lord President of the Council until March 1867. Richard Temple Nugent Brydges Chandos Grenville was also designated as Secretary of State for the Colonies after Lord Caernarvon resigned from the position in 1867 over the Reform Bill. He served in office from 8 March 1867 to 1 December 1868. Grenville was also appointed Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire.

Richard Temple Nugent Brydges Chandos Grenville as Governor of Madras
Richard Grenville, 3rd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos GCSI, PC, was appointed as the Governor of the Madras Presidency on 23 November 1875. He succeeded William Rose Robinson, who served as the Acting Governor of the Madras. The Madras Presidency, also known as the Presidency of Fort St. George and Madras Province, was an administrative sub division of British dominated India. The territory included most of southern India, such as the modern states of Tamil Nadu, the Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions of Andhra Pradesh, Lakshadweep Islands, the Malabar region of North Kerala, Koraput, Malkangiri, Nabarangapur and Gajapati districts of southern Orissa and the Bellary, Ganjam, Dakshina Kannada, Rayagada and Udupi districts of Karnataka. Madras (now Chennai) was the winter capital of the province and Ootacamund (now Ooty) was the summer capital of the British presidency.

During his tenure, the province suffered from degenerating socio-economic and health circumstances. During the Great Famine of 1876- 1878 in the province, over 18 million people were adversely affected. Later Grenville began construction of a navigation channel between the city of Madras city and the northern part of the Madras Presidency. The canal was inaugurated in the year 1878 and was named Buckingham Canal, after Grenville, 3rd Duke of Buckingham. Under his administration, several of the strict taxation laws were also repealed. Richard Temple Nugent Brydges Chandos Grenville served in office till 20 December 1880 and was succeeded by William Patrick Adam as the Governor of the Madras Presidency.

Personal Life of Richard Temple Nugent Brydges Chandos Grenville
Richard Temple Nugent Brydges Chandos Grenville was married with Caroline Harvey, who was the daughter of Robert Harvey, in the year 1851. The couple had 3 daughters namely Mary Morgan Grenville, 11th Lady Kinloss, Anne Grenville and Caroline Grenville. After his wife died in 1874, the 3rd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos was married for a second time to Alice Graham Montgomery, daughter of Sir Graham Graham Montgomery, in 1885.

Richard Plantagenet Campbell Temple Nugent Brydges Chandos Grenville, 3rd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos GCSI, PC died on 26 March 1889 at the age of 65 at Chandos House in Marylebone, London, due to an unknown illness. Due to lack of any male heirs, the dukedom of Buckingham and Chandos became nonextant.