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Grey family

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Grey
Noble family
Country United Kingdom
Earlier spellingsDe Greye, Graye
EtymologyGraye-sur-Mer
Place of originNormandy
Founded11th century
FounderAnchetil de Greye
Current headRichard Henry Cornwall-Legh, 6th Baron Grey of Codnor
Final head(Patrilineal) Roger Grey,
10th Earl of Stamford
Titles• Queen of England (disputed)
• 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 ancient English noble family from Creully in Normandy. The founder 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 in the 13th century as Barons Grey of Codnor, of Ruthyn and of Wilton, and they were later elevated as viscounts, earls, marquesses, dukes; among them, King Edward VI declared his cousin Lady Jane Grey "the Nine Days' Queen" to be his successor as Queen of England and Ireland, and she reigned from 10 July through 19 July 1553 by her right 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 of England. Notably, Prime Minister Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey abolished slavery in the British Empire in 1833 and introduced electoral reform in the Great Reform Act of 1832.[1]

Grey lineage

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Grey’s Monument in Newcastle upon Tyne: Prime Minister Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, abolisher of slavery in the British Empire

11th century

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Main articles: Anchetil de Greye and Henry de Grey

Anchetil de Greye (c. 1052 – after 1086) is listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as the lord of six Oxfordshire manors.[2] His descendant Sir Henry de Grey was the first of the Anglo-Norman Grey family who were called to parliament, raised to the peerage, married into royalty, appointed army generals, and consecrated bishops, as well as later distinguishing themselves in other professions.

13th century

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Main articles: Sir John de Grey; Reginald de Grey, 1st Baron Grey de Wilton; and Gray's Inn

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.

14th century

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Main articles: John de Grey, 1st Baron Grey de Rotherfield and Order of the Garter

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.[3] He was Lord Steward of the Royal Household of King Edward III.[4]

The Streatham portrait of Lady Jane Grey, the Nine Days' Queen, monarch of England and Ireland
Arms of Baron Grey of Codnor on a ceiling boss in the South Porch of Canterbury Cathedral, built in 1422

16th century

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Main articles: Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk and Lady Jane Grey

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. She thus became de facto 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.

19th century

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Main articles: Charles Grey, 1st Earl Grey and Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey

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.[5]

20th century

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Main article: Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon

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.[6][7]

Family tree

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Partial family tree

(Separate family?)

Arms of the Greys

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  • John Grey, 1st Baron Grey de Rotherfield
    John Grey,
    1st Baron Grey de Rotherfield
  • Richard Grey, 4th Baron Grey de Codnor
    Richard Grey,
    4th Baron Grey de Codnor
  • Arthur Grey, 14th Baron Grey de Wilton
    Arthur Grey,
    14th Baron Grey de Wilton
  • Richard Grey, 3rd Earl of Kent
    Richard Grey,
    3rd Earl of Kent
  • Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset
    Thomas Grey,
    1st Marquess of Dorset
  • Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk
    Henry Grey,
    Duke of Suffolk
  • Marchioness Grey
    Marchioness Grey
  • Barons Walsingham
    Barons Walsingham
  • Earls of Stamford and Warrington
    Earls of Stamford and Warrington
  • Earls of Wilton
    Earls of Wilton
  • Grey-Egerton baronets
    Grey-Egerton baronets
  • Charles Cornwall-Legh, 5th Baron Grey
    Charles Cornwall-Legh, 5th Baron Grey

Bibliography

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Burke's Peerage & Baronetage
  2. ^ "Ansketil (Of Graye) | Domesday Book".
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ Kramer, Ione. All the Tea in China. China Books, 1990. ISBN 0-8351-2194-1. Pages 180–181.
  6. ^ Viscount Grey of Fallodon: Twenty-Five Years 1892–1916 (New York, 1925) p. 20 books.google.
  7. ^ "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.
  8. ^ www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk: Grey of Codnor, B.
  9. ^ www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk: Grey of Wilton, B
  10. ^ www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk: Grey of Ruthin, B
  11. ^ www.nationalarchives.gov.uk: Stamford and Warrington archives
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