Coat of Arms of Edmund Grey, 1st Earl of Kent

Edmund Grey, 1st Earl of Kent (26 October 141622 May 1490), English administrator, nobleman and magnate, was the son of Sir John Grey, KG and Constance Holland. His main residence was at

Wrest Wrest Park is a Rural, country Estate (house), estate located in Silsoe, Bedfordshire, England. It comprises Wrest Park, a Grade I listed building, listed English country house, country house, and Wrest Park Gardens, also Grade I listed, forma ...

near Silsoe,

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council wa ...

Lineage

Through Constance Holland, he was great-grandson of

John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster (6 March 1340 – 3 February 1399) was an English royal prince, military leader, and statesman. He was the fourth son (third to survive infancy as William of Hatfield died shortly after birth) of King Edward ...

, the third son of

King Edward III of England Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring ro ...

, by his first wife, and thus grand-nephew of

King Henry IV of England Henry IV ( April 1367 – 20 March 1413), also known as Henry Bolingbroke, was King of England from 1399 to 1413. He asserted the claim of his grandfather King Edward III, a maternal grandson of Philip IV of France, to the Kingdom of F ...

and

Philippa of Lancaster Philippa of Lancaster ( pt, Filipa ; 31 March 1360 – 19 July 1415) was Queen of Portugal from 1387 until 1415 by marriage to King John I. Born into the royal family of England, her marriage secured the Treaty of Windsor and produced severa ...

. Grey succeeded his grandfather Reginald Grey, 3rd Baron Grey de Ruthyn in 1440. He married

Lady Katherine Percy Lady Katherine Percy (18 May 1423 – ) was the daughter of Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland, and Lady Eleanor Neville. Her maternal grandparents were Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland and his second wife Joan Beaufort, a leg ...

, who was also a great-granddaughter of

John of Gaunt John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster (6 March 1340 – 3 February 1399) was an English royal prince, military leader, and statesman. He was the fourth son (third to survive infancy as William of Hatfield died shortly after birth) of King Edward ...

by his third wife,

Katherine Swynford Katherine Swynford, Duchess of Lancaster (born Katherine de Roet, – 10 May 1403), also spelled Katharine or Catherine, was the third wife of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, the fourth (but third surviving) son of King Edward III. Daughter o ...

, and also a descendant of

through his second son,

Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence Lionel of Antwerp, Duke of Clarence, (; 29 November 133817 October 1368) was the third son, but the second son to survive infancy, of the English king Edward III and Philippa of Hainault. He was named after his birthplace, at Antwerp in the Duc ...

Knighthood

Edmund Grey was knighted following service in

Aquitaine Aquitaine ( , , ; oc, Aquitània ; eu, Akitania; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne ( oc, Guiana), is a historical region of southwestern France and a former administrative region of the country. Since 1 January ...

in October 1440. He attended the royal council between 1456 and 1458. Active militarily in the

Wars of the Roses The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487), known at the time and for more than a century after as the Civil Wars, were a series of civil wars fought over control of the English throne in the mid-to-late fifteenth century. These wars were fought bet ...

, he especially played a decisive role in the Battle of Northampton by switching his allegiance from the Lancastrian to the

Yorkist The House of York was a cadet branch of the English royal House of Plantagenet. Three of its members became kings of England in the late 15th century. The House of York descended in the male line from Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, t ...

cause. For this action he was rewarded by Edward IV with a grant of the manor of

Ampthill Ampthill () is a town and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, between Bedford and Luton, with a population estimate of 8,100 (Mid year estimate 2017 from the ONS). It is administered bAmpthill Town Council The ward of Ampthill which also i ...

, ownership of which had come into dispute between Grey, Ralph Lord Cromwell and Henry Holland Duke of Exeter.

Treasurer of England

Edmund Grey's appointment as

treasurer of England The post of Lord High Treasurer or Lord Treasurer was an English government position and has been a British government position since the Acts of Union of 1707. A holder of the post would be the third-highest-ranked Great Officer of State in ...

was enacted at Westminster on 24 June 1463 but Walter Blount succeeded him in November 1464. Edmund also held other high offices under Edward IV and

Richard III Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Battl ...

Earldom

He was created

Earl of Kent The peerage title Earl of Kent has been created eight times in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. In fiction, the Earl of Kent is also known as a prominent supporting character in William Shakespeare's tragedy K ...

on 30 May 1465, shortly after the marriage of his eldest son, Anthony, to the king's sister-in-law, Joan Woodville (she is sometimes known as Eleanor Woodville) He was then appointed chief justice of the county of Meryonnyth, North WalesCalendar of the

Patent Rolls The patent rolls (Latin: ''Rotuli litterarum patentium'') are a series of administrative records compiled in the English, British and United Kingdom Chancery, running from 1201 to the present day. Description The patent rolls comprise a register ...

: Edward IV 1461-1467; p. 286, 467, (London, 1897). and constable of Harlech. After the death of their first son, the second, George, became his heir and eventually

George Grey, 2nd Earl of Kent George Grey, 2nd Earl of Kent, (1454 – 25 December 1505) was the son of Edmund Grey, 1st Earl of Kent and Lady Katherine Percy. He was the Second Earl of Kent from 1490 to 1505. Biography George Grey, 2nd Earl of Kent and 5th Baron Grey de ...

Posterity

His children by Katherine Percy included: * Anthony Grey (died in his father's lifetime), married Eleanor Woodville sister of

Elizabeth Woodville Elizabeth Woodville (also spelt Wydville, Wydeville, or Widvile;Although spelling of the family name is usually modernised to "Woodville", it was spelt "Wydeville" in contemporary publications by Caxton, but her tomb at St. George's Chapel, Wind ...

. There were no children *

, married

Anne Woodville Anne Woodville, Viscountess Bourchier (c. 1438 – 30 July 1489) was an English noblewoman. She was a younger sister of Queen Consort Elizabeth Woodville to whom she served as a lady-in-waiting. Anne was married twice; first to William Bour ...

then Katherine Herbert, daughter of William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke * Elizabeth Grey, married Sir Robert Greystoke * Anne Grey, married John Grey, 8th Baron Grey of Wilton

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kent, Edmund Grey, 1st Earl of 1416 births 1490 deaths Lord High Treasurers of England Earls of Kent (1465 creation) People of the Tudor period

Edmund Edmund is a masculine given name or surname in the English language. The name is derived from the Old English elements ''ēad'', meaning "prosperity" or "riches", and ''mund'', meaning "protector". Persons named Edmund include: People Kings and ...

Barons Grey of Ruthin