Sir George Grey Bt. | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Home Secretary | |
| In office 25 July 1861 – 28 June 1866 | |
| Prime Minister | The Viscount Palmerston The Earl Russell |
| Preceded by | Sir George Cornewall Lewis, Bt |
| Succeeded by | Spencer Horatio Walpole |
| In office 8 February 1855 – 26 February 1858 | |
| Prime Minister | The Viscount Palmerston |
| Preceded by | The Viscount Palmerston |
| Succeeded by | Spencer Horatio Walpole |
| In office 8 July 1846 – 23 February 1852 | |
| Prime Minister | Lord John Russell |
| Preceded by | Sir James Graham, Bt |
| Succeeded by | Spencer Horatio Walpole |
| Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster | |
| In office 22 June 1859 – 25 July 1861 | |
| Prime Minister | The Viscount Palmerston |
| Preceded by | The Duke of Montrose |
| Succeeded by | Edward Cardwell |
| In office 23 June 1841 – 30 August 1841 | |
| Prime Minister | The Viscount Melbourne |
| Preceded by | The Earl of Clarendon |
| Succeeded by | Lord Granville Somerset |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 11 May 1799 (2025-11-19UTC09:18:33) |
| Died | 9 September 1882(1882-09-09) (aged 83) |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Whig Liberal |
| Spouse | Anna Sophia Ryder |
| Relatives | House of Grey |
| Alma mater | Oriel College, Oxford |
Sir George Grey, 2nd Baronet,PC (11 May 1799 – 9 September 1882) was a BritishWhig politician and a scion of the nobleHouse of Grey. He held office under four Prime Ministers,Lord Melbourne,Lord John Russell,Lord Aberdeen, andLord Palmerston, notably serving three times asHome Secretary for a collective 13 years.[1]
Grey was the eldest son ofSir George Grey, 1st Baronet, who was himself the third son ofCharles Grey, 1st Earl Grey, and younger brother of Prime MinisterCharles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey. His mother was Mary Whitbread, daughter ofSamuel Whitbread, an English brewer andMember of Parliament. He was born atGibraltar, where is father was engaged as part of his naval command.[2][3]
Grey was educated privately and atOriel College, Oxford. Originally intending to become a priest, he instead chose law as his profession, and was called to the bar in 1826. He began a successful legal practice before entering politics.
Grey was elected to parliament as a Whig forDevonport in 1832, and quickly made his mark in theHouse of Commons. He did not hold office in theWhig administration of his uncleLord Grey, but whenLord Melbourne became prime minister in 1834, he was appointedUnder-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies. The government fell in December of that year, but returned to power in May 1835, when Grey resumed the post ofUnder-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies (succeedingWilliam Ewart Gladstone). He retained this office until 1839, when he was madeJudge Advocate General. The same year Grey was also admitted to thePrivy Council. He was then brieflyChancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in 1841, with a seat in the cabinet for the first time until theWhigs were defeated in thegeneral election that year.
The Whigs returned to power in July 1846 underLord John Russell, who appointed GreyHome Secretary, the first of his three spells in this position. In 1846, Grey, "himself a zealous advocate ofhydropathy"[4] succeeded in getting passed The Baths and Washhouses Act, which promoted the voluntary establishment of public baths and washhouses in England and Wales. A series of statutes followed, which became known collectively as "The Baths and Wash-houses Acts 1846 to 1896".[5][a] This was an important milestone in the improvement of sanitary conditions and public health in those times.[4] He decided to leave his seat at Devonport, partly owing to the baths scandal, returning instead for his nativeNorthumberland North in an 1847 by-election, from the family seat at Fallodon, which he had recently inherited from his uncle, Henry Grey.
The new baronet sat throughout the parliament in active support of Lord John Russell, until the collapse of the ministry after the scandal of the Durham Letter, and controversial Ecclesiastical Titles bull. Traditional Whigs were Protestant, among them Grey, but the liberality of authorising a catholic hierarchy changed the nature of party politics. Grey's first tenure at theHome Office notably saw him deal with relief efforts to the victims of theGreat Famine of Ireland and trying to subdue theIrish rebellion of 1848. The latter year also saw the peak of theChartist movement, which staged a massive rally inLondon in April. In 1847, Grey had left his old constituency inDevonport. He remained Home Secretary until the1852 general election, when, despite enjoying widespread popularity, he lost his seat.
Grey remained out of parliament until January 1853, when he was returned forMorpeth. He at first refused to join the coalition government ofLord Aberdeen, but in June 1854 he accepted the post ofColonial Secretary. The coalition fell in February 1855, and the Whigs returned to office underLord Palmerston. Grey was appointed to his old office ofHome Secretary, which he retained until the government resigned in February 1858. TheConservative administration under theEarl of Derby which took office only lasted until June the following year, when Palmerston again became prime minister. Grey was now appointedChancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, but in 1861 he became Home Secretary for the third time. The government fell in 1866, and Grey was not to hold office again. Before the1874 general election, he was overlooked as theLiberal candidate for Morpeth in favour of miners' leaderThomas Burt. This marked the end of Grey's public life and he spent the remainder of his life in retirement at his Fallodon estate in Northumberland. In 1873 Grey took his grandson, Edward on a tour of Scotland. The train they were travelling in pulled in at the tiny village halt of Kingussie in the Highlands, where they were met on the platform by none other thanWilliam Gladstone.
Grey married Anna Sophia Ryder, eldest daughter of Henry Ryder,Bishop of Lichfield, a son of theEarl of Harrowby. They had one son, George Henry Grey (1835–1874). As his only son had predeceased him, he was succeeded in the baronetcy by his grandson,Edward, who also became a prominent Liberal politician, serving as Foreign Secretary from 1905 to 1916, when he was raised to the peerage asViscount Grey of Fallodon.
George Grey was an affectionate family man, a good sense of humour and quickness of mind. He was widely welcomed by a wide variety of friends. A devoted grandfather of seven, he often accompanied out riding, even until eighty years old. Ever an enthusiastic sportsman he encouraged his family to play tennis. He was a keen reader of the classics, with a great knowledge of Latin, Greek, and Hebrew; Shakespeare's plays, Walter Scott's poetry were part of their education. To the end he was conscientious of his children's welfare. He died with them around him, aged eighty-three.[6] His only son and heir was George Henry Grey. His eldest grandson Edward inherited the estate atFallodon.
_Escutcheon.png) |
|
a.'^ Online searches for reference to the relevant acts have so far yielded listings from the London Gazette.[8] See also the Parliamentary Archives website.[9]
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
.svg)
