Page:The Complete Peerage Ed 1 Vol 4.djvu/93

 GREY. 95 GREY, and GREY OF HOWICKf) Barony. /.' Charles Grey, 4th s. of Sir Henry Grey, 1st Bart., I 1801 °^ H° w i c k> co - Northumberland, by Hannah, da. of Thomas Wood, o£ Fallowden, in Embledon, in tli.it county, was b. and bap. 23 Oct. Earldom. 1729, at Howick ; entered the Army in 1746 ; served as Capt. in the I 1RO0 20t '' Foot at *' ie ,:i!ltt ' e °* M' n <le" (1 Aug. 1759) where he was »UO. wounded ; became Col. in the Army and aide-de-camp to the King, 1772 ; served as Major-General in America, 1770-82, becoming finally, 1790, General in the Army. K.B., 8 Jan. 1783, being inst. 14 May 1788. In 1793 he was made Commander-in-Chief in the West Indies, reducing Martinique and Guadeloupe in 1794. but losing the latter which he was unable to re-capture ; Gov. of Guernsey and P.C.. 1797. Col. of the 3d Dragoons, 1799, having previously been Col. of several Light Dragoon regiments. He was in command at Sheeruess at the time of the mutiny of the Nore in 1799. He was cr., 23 June 1801, BARON GREY OF DO WICK, co. Northumberland, aud on 1 1 April 1800,(>') VISCOUNT HOWICK, co. Northumberland, and EARL GRLY. ( c ) He in., 8 June 1 762, at Southwick, co. Durham, Elizabeth, da. of George Gniw, of Southwick, bv Elizabeth, da. of Nathaniel Oulk, M.D., of Kirkley. He </., 14 Nov. 1807, at Howick in his 79th year. Will pr. 1808. His widow //. 2(5 May 1822, in Hertford street, Mayfair, Midx., in her 78th year. Will pr. 1822. II. 1807. A Ciiarles (Grey), Earl Grey, &c, 2d but 1st. gurv . s. and h, b. 13 May 1764, at Fallowden afsd. ; ed. at Eton( d ) and at King's Coll., Cambridge. M.P. for Northumberland, 1784-1807 ; styhd Viscount Howick, 1806-07 ; P.O., 1806 ; First Lord of the Admiralty, Feb. to Sep. 1806 ; Foreign Secretary (with the lead of the Whig section) Sep. 1806 to March 1S07, when he was dismissed (with the rest of the Orenvllle Ministry] on the subject of Cathulie emancipation. In Nov. 1804 he sue. to the peerage and a few months later (by the death of his uncle) 30 March 1S0S, to the family estate of Howick and to the Baronetcy conferred (11 Jan. 1746) on his grandfather. After 24 years absence from office he was, at the age of 60, constituted in four successive Paris, from Nov. 1830 to July 1S31 First Lord of the Trea jury (Prime Minister) during which period the Reform Bill of 1831 was passed. («) X.G., 27 May 1831 ; Bearer of the Sword of State at the Coronation, 8 Sep. 1831. He IS Nov. 1794, in Hertford street, St. Geo. Han. sq., Mary Elizabeth, da. of William Brabazon (Ponsonby), 1st Baron Ponsonby, of Imokilly, by Louisa, da. of Richard (MoLESWOBTH), 3d Viscount Moleswoutu [I.] He d. 17 July 1845, at Howick House, aged 81. Will pr. Dec. 1845. His widow, who was b. 1 March 1770, d. 26 Nov. 1861, in Eaton square, Midx. (*) See p. 99, note " a," sub " Grey de Powis," as to the peerages enjoyed by this family of Grey - a family quite distinct from that of the Lords Grey de lluthyn, &c. ( b ) It does not seem that either his military achievements (tho' not contemptible) or his political ones could have been the cause of a peerage conferred (so long after his retirement from all public affairs) by the Addington Ministry, and nothing certainly occurred in the five years following his grant of a Barony to justify the bestowal of Uco more peerages on him of a liigher grade by the Grenville Ministry save the paramount influence of his able son (and future successor) therewith. ( c ) See vol. ii, p. 102, note " a,"jub " Cadogan," as to titles of Earldom from the family surname, &c. ( d ) He was a contributor to the " Musce Etonenses" (°) It is not improbable that his conduct during this great political crisis averted many civil disturbances but the deep shade of " Grey " that pervaded the holder of almost every lucrative office during his Ministry was beyond all ordinary measure (indeed almost ludicrously) excessive. In Stephen's " A'«<. Hlogr." it is said that " his Ministry was characteristic of him," being 11 almost exclusively composed of peers or persons of title, aud his own family well represented iu it," while Mr. Howard Evans, in his " Our old Nobility," writes that 11 Km nepotism was scandalous. The emolu- ments given by Earl Grey, very soon after his appointment as First Lord of the Treasury, including his own, were estimated to be of the value of £60,000 per annum," adding also that " for examples of rapacity equal to, if not surpassing any yet given, probably it would be difficult to find a more glaring case than that of the Greys. It is a long dreary record of shameless greed and official nepotism."