Grey family

Last updated
Grey
Coat of Arms of Richard Grey, 4th Baron Grey of Codnor.svg
Country United Kingdom
Earlier spellingsde Greye
Place of origin Normandy
Founded11th century
Founder Anchetil de Greye
Titles• Queen of England
• Queen of Ireland
• Duke of Suffolk
• Duke of Kent
• Marquess of Dorset
• Earl of Stamford
• Earl of Huntingdon
• Earl of Tankerville
• Earl de Grey
• Earl Grey
• Earl of Kent
• Viscount Fallodon
• Viscount Glendale
• Viscount Howick
• Baron Powis
• Baron Wilton
• Baron Werke
• Baron Codnor
• Baron Bonville
• Baron Walsingham
• Baron Rotherfield
• Lord Gray
• Grey baronets
Estate(s)• Wingfield Castle
• Bradgate House
• Dunham Massey

The Grey family is an English family, descending from the Anglo-Norman de Greye family. [1] The patriarch of the family was Anchetil de Greye, a Norman chevalier and vassal of William FitzOsbern, 1st Earl of Hereford, one of the few proven companions of William the Conqueror known to have fought at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. The Greys were ennobled during the 13th century as Barons Grey of Codnor, of Ruthyn and of Wilton. Some members of the family were later elevated as viscounts, earls, marquesses, dukes, and in the 16th century, one member became monarch, albeit briefly. [2]

Contents

Among them, King Edward VI declared his cousin Lady Jane Grey, "the Nine Days Queen", to be his successor as monarch of England and Ireland, and on his death, she reigned from 10 July through 19 July 1553 (according to her claim as the great-granddaughter of King Henry VII via her parents Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk, and Frances Grey, Duchess of Suffolk, daughter of Mary Tudor, Queen of France), until she was deposed by her cousin Mary I, Queen of England, Ireland and Spain, known as "Bloody Mary". Notably, Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and abolished slavery in the British Empire in 1833. [3] [4] [5] [6]

Grey lineage

11th century

Anchetil de Greye (c. 1052 – after 1086) is listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as the lord of six Oxfordshire manors. [7] His descendant Sir Henry de Grey was the first of the Anglo-Norman Grey family who became generals and acceded to parliament, and who were consecrated bishops, raised to the peerage, and married into royalty, as well as later distinguishing themselves in other professions. [8]

13th century

Grey's Monument (erected in 1833), in remembrance of Prime Minister Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, abolisher of slavery in the British Empire (1833) Charles Grey - 2nd Earl Grey - atop the Grey Momument - Newcastle upon Tyne - England - 140804.jpg
Grey's Monument (erected in 1833), in remembrance of Prime Minister Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, abolisher of slavery in the British Empire (1833)

Reginald de Grey, 1st Baron Grey de Wilton (c. 1240–1308) was the son of Sir John de Grey and the namesake of one of the four Inns of Court, being Gray's Inn, which became of Reginald de Grey's Portpoole Manor. He was one of three commanders appointed by Edward I of England in his 1282 campaign against Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, the rebellious last native Prince of Wales. [9]

14th century

John de Grey, 1st Baron Grey de Rotherfield (c. 1300–1359) is listed in the Bruges Garter Book as a founding knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter and a companion of Edward the Black Prince. [10] He was Lord Steward of the Royal Household of King Edward III. [11]

The Streatham portrait of Lady Jane Grey, the Nine Days' Queen, monarch of England and Ireland Streathamladyjayne.jpg
The Streatham portrait of Lady Jane Grey, the Nine Days' Queen, monarch of England and Ireland

16th century

Lady Jane Grey (c. 1537–1554) "the Nine Days' Queen" was the daughter of Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk and Queen of England and Ireland. Lady Jane was the great-granddaughter of King Henry VII through his daughter Mary Tudor, Queen of France. Due to this and her avowed Protestantism, King Edward VI nominated Lady Jane as his successor to the Crown, and she became Queen of England and Ireland on 10 July 1553, until her deposition on 19 July 1553 by Mary I of England. In February 1554, both she and her father were executed for treason. [12]

19th century

Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey (c. 1764–1845) was the son of Charles Grey, 1st Earl Grey and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Lord Grey's government enacted the abolition of slavery in the British Empire by initiating the mass purchase of slaves from their owners in 1833. He had previously resigned as foreign secretary in 1807 to protest the King's uncompromising rejection of Catholic Emancipation. He is the namesake of Earl Grey tea. [13]

Arms of Baron Grey of Codnor on a ceiling boss in the South Porch of Canterbury Cathedral, built in 1422 Canterbury, Canterbury cathedral 07.JPG
Arms of Baron Grey of Codnor on a ceiling boss in the South Porch of Canterbury Cathedral, built in 1422

20th century

Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon (c. 1862–1933) is Britain’s longest serving Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (1905–1916). He was the main force behind British foreign policy in the era of World War I, the centrepiece of his foreign policy being the defence of France against German aggression, while avoiding a binding alliance with Paris. His most consequential achievement in foreign policy was otherwise securing the Anglo-Russian entente of 1907. [14] [15]

Family tree

Partial family tree

(Separate family?)

Arms of the Greys

See also

References

  1. ↑ https://www.britannica.com/biography/Lady-Jane-Grey
  2. ↑ https://www.britannica.com/biography/Lady-Jane-Grey
  3. ↑ https://www.museumofpm.org/prime-ministers/charles-grey-2nd-earl-grey/#:~:text=In%201833%2C%20his%20government%20abolished%20slavery%20in%20the,Factory%20Act%20and%20a%20new%20Poor%20Law%20Act.
  4. ↑ https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-Grey-1st-Earl-Grey
  5. ↑ https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-Grey-2nd-Earl-Grey
  6. ↑ https://www.gov.uk/government/history/past-prime-ministers/charles-grey-2nd-earl-grey
  7. ↑ "Ansketil (Of Graye) | Domesday Book".
  8. ↑ https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-Grey-1st-Earl-Grey
  9. ↑ https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-Grey-1st-Earl-Grey
  10. ↑ Shaw, Wm. A. (1971). The Knights of England: A Complete Record from the Earliest Time to the Present Day of the Knights of All the Orders of Chivalry in England, Scotland, and Ireland, and of the Knights Bachelors. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company. p. 1. OCLC   247620448.
  11. ↑ Henry Summerson, ‘Grey, John, first Lord Grey of Rotherfield (1300–1359)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, September 2004; online edn, January 2008. doi : 10.1093/ref:odnb/11544
  12. ↑ https://www.britannica.com/biography/Lady-Jane-Grey
  13. ↑ Kramer, Ione. All the Tea in China. China Books, 1990. ISBN   0-8351-2194-1. Pages 180–181.
  14. ↑ Viscount Grey of Fallodon: Twenty-Five Years 1892–1916 (New York, 1925) p. 20 books.google.
  15. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 March 2009. Retrieved 27 March 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) p. 8.
  16. ↑ www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk: Grey of Codnor, B.
  17. ↑ www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk: Grey of Wilton, B
  18. ↑ www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk: Grey of Ruthin, B
  19. ↑ www.nationalarchives.gov.uk: Stamford and Warrington archives

Bibliography

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