The Right Honourable
The Earl of Stamford
PC
Portrait by Jonathan Richardson
President of the Board of Trade
In office
9 June 1699 – 19 June 1702
MonarchsWilliam III
Anne
Preceded byThe Earl of Bridgewater
Succeeded byThe Viscount Weymouth
In office
1705 – 12 June 1711
MonarchAnne
Preceded byThe Viscount Weymouth
Succeeded byThe Earl of Winchilsea
Personal details
Born1654
Died31 January 1720 (aged 65–66)

Thomas Grey, 2nd Earl of Stamford, PC (c. 1654 – 31 January 1720) was a British peer and politician.[1]

Biography

Grey was the only son of Thomas, Lord Grey of Groby, and inherited his title from his grandfather.[1] His mother was Lady Dorothy Bourchier, daughter of Edward Bourchier, 4th Earl of Bath.

Grey took some part in resisting the arbitrary actions of James II, and was arrested in July 1685. After his release he took up arms on behalf of William of Orange in the Glorious Revolution, after whose accession to the throne he was made a Privy Counsellor (1694) and Lord Lieutenant of Devon (1696).[1] Politically he was described as an "unrepentant Whig", who reaffirmed his belief in the Popish Plot by voting against the motion to reverse the attainder on William Howard, 1st Viscount Stafford.

In 1697 he became Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and in 1699 President of the Board of Trade, being dismissed from his office upon the accession of Anne in 1702. From 1707 to 1711, however, he was again President of the Board of Trade.[1]

He married twice: firstly in 1651, Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Daniel Harvey (diplomat), ambassador to the Ottoman Empire (divorced), and secondly in 1691, Mary, daughter of Joseph Maynard, MP in the Cavalier Parliament. On his death without surviving children, his titles and Leicestershire estate at Bradgate Park passed to his first cousin Henry Grey, 3rd Earl of Stamford (1685–1739), a grandson of the first earl, from whom the later earls were descended.[1]

Arms

Arms of Grey

The arms of the head of the Grey family are blazoned Barry of six argent and azure in chief three torteaux gules.[citation needed]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Stamford, Henry Grey, 1st Earl of". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 25 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 769.

References

Honorary titles Preceded byThe Earl of Huntingdon Custos Rotulorum of Leicestershire 1689–1702 Succeeded byThe Earl of Rutland Preceded byThe Earl of Bath Lord Lieutenant of Devon 1696–1702 Succeeded byThe Earl Poulett Custos Rotulorum of Devon 1696–1711 Political offices Preceded byThe Lord Willoughby de Eresby Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 1697–1702 Succeeded bySir John Leveson-Gower Preceded byThe Earl of Bridgewater President of the Board of Trade 1699–1702 Succeeded byThe Viscount Weymouth Preceded byThe Viscount Weymouth President of the Board of Trade 1707–1711 Succeeded byThe Earl of Winchilsea Peerage of England Preceded byHenry Grey Earl of Stamford 1673–1720 Succeeded byHenry Grey
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