The Robinson family descended from William Robinson (d. 1616), a wealthy York merchant, Lord Mayor and Member of Parliament for York. His grandson Sir William Robinson also represented York in Parliament and served as High Sheriff of Yorkshire in 1638. Sir William's elder son Metcalfe Robinson sat as Member of Parliament for York and was created a Baronet in 1660 (see Robinson Baronets). He died childless in 1689 when the baronetcy became extinct. The title was revived in the following year when his nephew William Robinson was created a Baronet, of Newby in the County of York, in the Baronetage of England. Sir William represented both Northallerton and York in Parliament. His eldest son Metcalfe, the second Baronet, only survived him by four days and was succeeded by his younger brother, Tancred, the third Baronet. He was a Rear-Admiral in the Royal Navy. This line of the family failed on the death of his younger son, the fifth Baronet, in 1792.
Central part of an engraved escutcheon Robinson quartering Weddell, for 3rd Lord Grantham, on silver gilt, with marks for Robert Garrard, London and 1802.
He was succeeded by his elder son Thomas, the aforementioned third Baron Grantham. In 1803 Thomas assumed the surname of Weddell in lieu of his patronymic. In 1833 he succeeded his maternal aunt as 2nd Earl de Grey and 6th Baron Lucas. His aunt Lady Amabel (or Annabella) Yorke had succeeded her mother the Marchioness Grey (on whose death the marquessate became extinct) in the barony of Lucas in 1797 and in 1816 she was created Countess de Grey, of Wrest in the County of Bedford, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, with remainder to her sister Lady Mary Jemima and the heirs male of her body. Lady de Grey was the childless widow of Alexander Hume-Campbell, Lord Polwarth, son of Hugh Hume-Campbell, 3rd Earl of Marchmont. Thomas, the second Earl de Grey, also inherited the Grey family seat of Wrest Park, near Silsoe in Bedfordshire. The same year he succeeded to the earldom, he assumed by Royal licence the surname of de Grey in lieu of Weddell.
Lord de Grey had no sons and was succeeded in the barony of Lucas (which could be passed on through female lines) by his daughter, Anne (see Baron Lucas for further history of this title). He was succeeded in the other titles by his nephew, George Robinson, 2nd Earl of Ripon. He was the only son of the Honourable F. J. Robinson, second son of the second Baron Grantham. F. J. Robinson was Chancellor of the Exchequer between 1823 and 1827, and he served briefly as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom between August 1827 and January 1828. In 1827 he was elevated to the Peerage of the United Kingdom as Viscount Goderich, of Nocton in the County of Lincoln. This was a revival of the viscountcy of Goderich created for his great-great-grandfather the Duke of Kent in 1706. In 1833 Robinson was further honoured when he was made Earl of Ripon, in the County of Kent in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. On his death in 1859 he was succeeded by his only son, the aforementioned second Earl of Ripon. The latter also succeeded his uncle in the earldom of de Grey later in 1859, whereby he became known by the style of "Earl de Grey and Ripon". He was a distinguished Liberal statesman and held office in every Liberal administration from 1861 until his death in 1908. In 1871 he was created Marquess of Ripon, in the County of York in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. He was succeeded by his only son and only surviving child, the second Marquess. He represented Ripon in Parliament between 1874 and 1880. He was childless, therefore all the titles became extinct upon his death in 1923. The second Marquess was regarded as the finest shot of his generation.
