George Harry Booth-Grey, 7th Earl of Stamford and 3rd Earl of Warrington (7 January 1827 – 2 January 1883) was an English

cricketer Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

, landowner and

peer Peer may refer to: Sociology * Peer, an equal in age, education or social class; see Peer group * Peer, a member of the peerage; related to the term "peer of the realm" Computing * Peer, one of several functional units in the same layer of a ne ...

, who sat on the Whig benches in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminst ...

Enville Hall, Enville (geograph 3443335)

Early life

George Harry Booth-Grey was born at

Enville, Staffordshire Enville is a village and civil parish in rural Staffordshire, England, on the A458 road between Stourbridge and Bridgnorth. Enville is in the South Staffordshire district. The largest village nearby is Kinver, with the smaller villages of Bobbin ...

, the only son of

George Grey Sir George Grey, KCB (14 April 1812 – 19 September 1898) was a British soldier, explorer, colonial administrator and writer. He served in a succession of governing positions: Governor of South Australia, twice Governor of New Zealand, ...

(1802–1835), who as Lord Grey of Groby had been summoned by writ to

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

in 1832. He succeeded to that title ( created 1603) as 9th Baron Grey of Groby at the death of his father on 24 October 1835. He was educated at Eton (1840–1843) before going up to

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

for one year. On the death of his grandfather George Harry Grey on 26 April 1845, he succeeded to the titles of Earl of Stamford, Earl of Warrington and Baron Delamer of Dunham Massey.

Activities

A member of

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influe ...

(MCC), Stamford played in eight

first-class matches First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

between 1851 and 1858, making 81 first-class runs at an average of 7.36, with a highest score of 17, and holding two catches. A prominent

patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

of The Turf, he was Master of the

Quorn Hunt The Quorn Hunt, usually called the Quorn, established in 1696, is one of the world's oldest fox hunting packs and claims to be the United Kingdom's most famous hunt. Its country is mostly in Leicestershire, together with some smaller areas of ...

between 1856 and 1863, and whilst he did not have many notable successes with his

racehorse Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic pr ...

s, his colt ''Diophantus'' won the

Two Thousand Guineas The 2000 Guineas Stakes is a Group 1 flat race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres) and scheduled to take place each year ...

in 1861. He served as a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in the

Cheshire Yeomanry The Cheshire Yeomanry was a yeomanry regiment that can trace its history back to 1797 when Sir John Leicester of Tabley raised a county regiment of light cavalry in response to the growing fears of invasion from Napoleonic France. Its lineag ...

(1845–56), before being appointed Honorary Colonel of the 7th Battalion, Lancashire Rifles (Volunteers) in 1871.

Marriage and legacy

Lord Stamford and Warrington married twice, producing no children; firstly in 1848 to Elizabeth King Billage (daughter of a shoemaker at Cambridge ) and secondly in 1855 to Catherine Cox the daughter of Henry Cox Esq. After inheriting his family's large

estates Estate or The Estate may refer to: Law * Estate (law), a term in common law for a person's property, entitlements and obligations * Estates of the realm, a broad social category in the histories of certain countries. ** The Estates, representati ...

at Enville in Staffordshire,

Bradgate Park Bradgate Park () is a public park in Charnwood Forest, in Leicestershire, England, northwest of Leicester. It covers . The park lies between the villages of Newtown Linford, Anstey, Cropston, Woodhouse Eaves and Swithland. The River Lin runs ...

in Leicestershire and other Leicestershire estates (including the village of Groby), Dunham Massey in Cheshire, and

Stalybridge Stalybridge () is a town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, with a population of 23,731 at the 2011 Census. Historically divided between Cheshire and Lancashire, it is east of Manchester city centre and north-west of Glossop. When a ...

in Lancashire, he commissioned the building of St Margaret's Church at Dunham Massey in 1851. Built in honor of his sister, Lady Margaret

Milbank Milbank LLP (commonly known as Milbank) is an international law firm headquartered in New York City. It also has offices in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, London, Frankfurt, Munich, Tokyo, Hong Kong, São Paulo, Seoul, Singapore, and Beijing. ...

, the

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chri ...

was completed in 1855. He was patron of several advowsons in addition to lordships of manors. Following his second marriage to Catherine Cox, the Earl commissioned the architect, Mr. M.J. Dain of Dain and Parsons, London, to design a hall for him to replace the old hunting lodge the Grey's used in the village of Groby, Leicestershire during the hunting season, which was named Bradgate House. Built by local builder Thomas Rudkin, Bradgate House was completed in 1856 and was built in the Jacobean style. It has been referred to as the Calendar House because it had 365 windows, 52 rooms, and 12 main chimneys. Groby. In 1860, twelve farms of his land at Bradgate were submerged to form Cropston Reservoir. In 1879, he donated of his land at

to the local council as a

public park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to r ...

( Stamford Park) and sold further land for housing development. On his death at Bradgate House in 1883, the

earldom Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant " chieftain", particula ...

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

(''cr.'' 1796) became extinct. His other two

titles A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...

passed to his third cousin once removed,

The Revd The Reverend is an style (manner of address), honorific style most often placed before the names of Christian clergy and Minister of religion, ministers. There are sometimes differences in the way the style is used in different countries and c ...

Harry Grey, 8th Earl of Stamford, who was living in

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with ...

. He left his estates to his widow for life, who was then styled ''Dowager Countess of Stamford and Warrington'', and on her death in 1905 they were divided.''John Rylands Library, Manchester''
/ref> The Dunham Massey estate went with the

; the Leicestershire estates passed to his niece Mrs Arthur Duncombe (later Grey), and the Enville estate was inherited by the

Dowager A dowager is a widow or widower who holds a title or property—a " dower"—derived from her or his deceased spouse. As an adjective, ''dowager'' usually appears in association with monarchical and aristocratic titles. In popular usage, the noun ...

Countess's grandniece Catherine, wife of Sir Henry Foley Lambert. The land at

was left equally between Mrs Duncombe and the Earl of Stamford and Warrington's niece and Lady Lambert the grand niece of Catherine, Countess of Stamford and Warrington, whose descendants ( Deramore and Foley Grey respectively) settled its division in 1959. Mrs Duncombe sold the Leicestershire Estates in 1925, which included the village of Groby and also the Jacobean style hall the Earl of Stamford and Warrington commissioned at Groby and was completed in 1856. Bradgate House was demolished in 1926. Only the magnificent stable block survives, albeit in a ruinous and dilapidated condition, which had been built on a lavish scale (the bill is thought to have run to £30,000) for the 7th Earl of Stamford when he was made Master of the

in 1856.

Arms

References

External links