Glanville was the son of
Sir John Glanville the elder, of
Broad Hinton in Wiltshire. His father was a judge and Member of Parliament. Glanville was brought up as an attorney, but entered
Lincoln's Inn and was
called to the bar on 6 February 1610. He was
Recorder of
Plymouth from 1614. He was elected
Member of Parliament for
Liskeard in 1614. In 1621 he was elected MP for
Plymouth and was re-elected in 1624. He was secretary to the Lord Admiral of the Fleet during the
George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham's
assault on Cádiz in 1625, and managed several of the articles of his impeachment over the next three years. He was re-elected MP for Plymouth in 1625 and opposed the Crown in the 1620s, preparing a protest against the dissolution of Parliament in 1625. He was re-elected MP for Plymouth in 1626 and 1628, and sat until 1629 when King Charles decided to rule without parliament for eleven years. At some time he was proctor for the dean and chapter of Windsor. In January or September 1644, he was disabled from sitting in parliament. He was also replaced as recorder of Bristol by
Edmund Prideaux. In 1645, he was imprisoned by Parliament in the
Tower of London until he was released on 7 July 1648. He was fined £2,320 for his support for the King. In 1659, he was elected MP for
St Germans in the
Third Protectorate Parliament but was disqualified. Following the Restoration, Glanville was reappointed
King's Serjeant on 6 June 1660. ==Marriage and issue==