Sir George Grey, 2nd Baronet

For other people with similar names, see George Grey (disambiguation) or George Gray (disambiguation).

The Right Honourable Sir George Grey Bt
File:Sir George Grey, 2nd Baronet.jpg
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
In office 23 June 1841 – 30 August 1841
Monarch	Victoria
Prime Minister	Viscount Melbourne
Preceded by	The Earl of Clarendon
Succeeded by	Lord Granville Somerset
In office 22 June 1859 – 25 July 1861
Monarch	Victoria
Prime Minister	The Viscount Palmerston
Preceded by	The Duke of Montrose
Succeeded by	Edward Cardwell
Home Secretary
In office 8 July 1846 – 23 February 1852
Monarch	Victoria
Prime Minister	Lord John Russell
Preceded by	Sir James Graham, Bt
Succeeded by	Spencer Horatio Walpole
In office 8 February 1855 – 26 February 1858
Monarch	Victoria
Prime Minister	The Viscount Palmerston
Preceded by	The Viscount Palmerston
Succeeded by	Spencer Horatio Walpole
In office 25 July 1861 – 28 June 1866
Monarch	Victoria
Prime Minister	The Viscount Palmerston The Earl Russell
Preceded by	Sir George Cornewall Lewis, Bt
Succeeded by	Spencer Horatio Walpole
Personal details
Born	11 May 1799 (2025-03-31UTC19:00:56) Gibraltar
Died
Nationality	British
Political party	Whig Liberal
Spouse(s)	Anna Sophia Ryder
Alma mater	Oriel College, Oxford

Sir George Grey, 2nd Baronet, PC (11 May 1799 – 9 September 1882) was a British Whig politician. He held office under four Prime Ministers, Lord Melbourne, Lord John Russell, Lord Aberdeen, and Lord Palmerston, and notably served three times as Home Secretary.

Background and education

Grey was the eldest son of Sir George Grey, 1st Baronet, who was himself third son of Charles Grey, 1st Earl Grey, and younger brother of Prime Minister Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey. His mother was Mary Whitbread, daughter of Samuel Whitbread. He was born at Gibraltar, where is father was engaged as part of his naval command.

Grey was educated privately and at Oriel 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, but soon turned to politics.

Political career, 1832–1853

Grey was elected to parliament as a Whig for Devonport in 1832, and quickly made his mark in the House of Commons. He did not hold office in the Whig administration of his uncle Lord Grey, but when Lord Melbourne became Prime Minister in 1834, he was appointed Under-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 of Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies (succeeding William Ewart Gladstone). He retained this office until 1839, when he was made Judge Advocate General. The same year Grey was also admitted to the Privy Council. He was then briefly Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in 1841, with a seat in the cabinet for the first time. However, the Whigs were defeated in the general election of that year.

The Whigs returned to power in July 1846 under Lord John Russell, who appointed Grey Home Secretary, the first of his three spells in this position. In 1846, Grey, "himself a zealous advocate of hydropathy" 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". This was an important milestone in the improvement of sanitary conditions and public health in those times. He decided to leave his seat at Devonport, partly owing to the baths scandal, returning instead for his native Northumberland 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 the Home Office notably saw him deal with relief efforts to the victims of the Great Famine of Ireland and trying to subdue the Irish rebellion of 1848. The latter year also saw the peak of the Chartist movement, which staged a massive rally in London in April. In 1847, Grey had left his old constituency in Devonport. He remained Home Secretary until the 1852 general election, when, despite enjoying widespread popularity, he lost his seat.

Political career, 1853–1874

Grey remained out of parliament until January 1853, when he was returned for Morpeth. He at first refused to join the coalition government of Lord Aberdeen, but in June 1854 he accepted the post of Colonial Secretary. The coalition fell in February 1855, and the Whigs returned to office under Lord Palmerston. Grey was appointed to his old office of Home Secretary, which he retained until the government resigned in February 1858. The Conservative administration under the Earl of Derby which took office only lasted until June the following year, when Palmerston again became Prime Minister. Grey was now appointed Chancellor 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 the 1874 general election, he was overlooked as the Liberal candidate for Morpeth in favour of miners' leader Thomas 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 travellers in, pulled in at the tiny village halt of Kingussie in the Highlands, where they were met on the platform by none other than William Gladstone.

Family

Grey married Anna Sophia Ryder, eldest daughter of Henry Ryder, Bishop of Lichfield, a son of the Earl 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. He was also to become a prominent Liberal politician, and served as Foreign Secretary from 1905 to 1916, when he was raised to the peerage as Viscount 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. His eldest grandson, Edward, inherited the estate at Fallodon, near Alnwick. His son and heir was:

• George Henry Grey

See also

• Earl Grey
• Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon

Notes

a.' ^{^} Online searches for reference to the relevant acts have so far yielded listings from the London Gazette. See also the Parliamentary Archives website.

References

Bibliography

• Dr. Creighton, A Memoir of Sir George Grey, Longmans & Co., 1901

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Sir George Grey

Parliament of the United Kingdom
New constituency	Member of Parliament for Devonport 1832 – 1847 With: Edward Codrington to 1839 Henry Tufnell from 1839	Succeeded by John Romilly Henry Tufnell
Preceded by Addison Cresswell Lord Ossulston	Member of Parliament for North Northumberland 1847 – 1852 With: Lord Ossulston	Succeeded by Lord Lovaine Lord Ossulston
Preceded by Edward Howard	Member of Parliament for Morpeth 1853–1874	Succeeded by Thomas Burt
Political offices
Preceded by John Shaw-Lefevre	Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies 1834	Succeeded by John Stuart-Wortley
Preceded by William Ewart Gladstone	Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies 1835–1839	Succeeded by Henry Labouchere
Preceded by The Earl of Clarendon	Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 1841	Succeeded by Lord Granville Somerset
Preceded by Sir James Graham, Bt	Home Secretary 1846–1852	Succeeded by Spencer Horatio Walpole
Vacant Title last held by Welbore Ellis	Secretary of State for the Colonies 1854–1855	Succeeded by Sidney Herbert
Preceded by The Viscount Palmerston	Home Secretary 1855–1858	Succeeded by Spencer Horatio Walpole
Preceded by The Duke of Montrose	Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 1859–1861	Succeeded by Edward Cardwell
Preceded by Sir George Lewis, Bt	Home Secretary 1861–1866	Succeeded by Spencer Horatio Walpole
Legal offices
Preceded by William St Julien Arabin	Judge Advocate General 1839–1841	Succeeded by Richard Lalor Shiel
Baronetage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by George Grey	Baronet (of Fallodon) 1828–1882	Succeeded by Edward Grey