The Rt Hon. Arthur Grey, 14th Baron Grey de Wilton,
KG (1536–1593), was a
baron
Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...
in the
Peerage of England
The Peerage of England comprises all peerages created in the Kingdom of England before the Act of Union in 1707. From that year, the Peerages of England and Scotland were closed to new creations, and new peers were created in a single Peerag ...
. Lord Grey de Wilton is now largely remembered for his memoir of his father, for participating in the
last defence of Calais (1558), and for his involvement in the massacre after the
Siege of Smerwick (1580) on ''
Corca Dhuibhne'' in
County Kerry
County Kerry () is a Counties of Ireland, county on the southwest coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is bordered by two other countie ...
. He served as
Lord Deputy of Ireland from 1580 until 1582.
Life
Arthur Grey was the eldest son of
The 13th Baron Grey de Wilton and Mary, daughter of
The 1st Earl of Worcester. He was a
Knight
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity.
The concept of a knighthood ...
and he was recorded as being
Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire on two separate occasions, in both 1569 and 1587, though it is not recorded if he held that title for all the years in between. He probably went with his father to
Guisnes in 1553; certainly, he was there when the French declared war in 1557; his eyewitness account of his father's last desperate defence of Guisnes, after Calais itself has fallen, remains the best source for the episode.
Like his father he became a hostage but was ransomed a year later. He succeeded his father as 14th Baron in 1562; the family fortune was by then much reduced by the heavy ransom required to free his father.
Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...
, however, restored the property forfeited by his father for his part in the
Lady Jane Grey affair.
In 1580, he recruited a force of 6,000 and was sent as
Lord Deputy of Ireland to quell the
Second Desmond Rebellion, replacing the notoriously brutal
Sir William Pelham. His first main encounter was when he led an army of about 3,000 in the
Battle of Glenmalure,
County Wicklow
County Wicklow ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606 in Ireland, 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the Provinces ...
in August, where his army was routed by
Fiach McHugh O'Byrne, with casualties of 800. Later in the same year, he led a force of 800 to ''
Ard na Caithne'' (Smerwick) in
County Kerry
County Kerry () is a Counties of Ireland, county on the southwest coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is bordered by two other countie ...
where he massacred 600 Irish, Italian and Spanish troops who had already surrendered, a notorious incident known as the
Siege of Smerwick. According to some versions of this event, Lord Grey de Wilton promised the garrison their lives in return for their surrender, a promise which he broke – this resulted in the Irish proverb 'Grey's faith'.
By 1582, the rebellion was in its last throes and he was recalled to
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, leaving
Munster devastated by famine. He had been largely successful in restoring order, but the justice of some of his actions was criticised, including the Smerwick massacre, and the hanging of the former Chief Justice,
Nicholas Nugent, on what seems to have been no more than a suggestion that he had been complicit in the Desmond Rebellion.
Marriage and issue
Lord Grey first married Dorothy, daughter of Richard, Lord Zouche.
[DNB] He secondly married, after 1572, Jane Sibella Morrison, who died in July 1615 and whose last
will
Will may refer to:
Common meanings
* Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death
* Will (philosophy), or willpower
* Will (sociology)
* Will, volition (psychology)
* Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will
...
was dated of 6 March 1614/1615 and probated on 14 July 1615. She naturalized as an English subject in 1575/1576, and was the widow of Edward Russell, Baron Russell, whom she married c. 1571; he died before June 1572 without issue and
intestate (his
estate was administered on 30 June 1572) and was buried at
Chenies,
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...
, son of
Francis Russell, 2nd Earl of Bedford and Margaret St John.
Jane's parents were
Sir Richard Morrison of
Cashiobury,
Hertfordshire (d.
Strasbourg
Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...
, 17 March 1556), and Bridget Hussey (c. 1526 – 13 January 1600/1601, bur.
Watford
Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne.
Initially a smal ...
,
Hertfordshire,
will
Will may refer to:
Common meanings
* Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death
* Will (philosophy), or willpower
* Will (sociology)
* Will, volition (psychology)
* Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will
...
dated 2 June 1600, probated 12 January 1600/1601), who married secondly before 1563
Henry Manners, 2nd Earl of Rutland, without issue, and thirdly, as his second wife
Francis Russell, 2nd Earl of Bedford on 25 June 1566, also without issue. Bridget was a daughter of
John Hussey, 1st Baron Hussey of Sleaford by his second wife, Lady Anne Grey.
Arthur and Jane were the parents of
Thomas Grey, 15th Baron Grey de Wilton, attainted for
treason
Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...
in 1603.
Bridget, Lady Egerton was their only surviving daughter.
Grey as author
Not long after his father's death, Lord Grey de Wilton wrote an affectionate memoir of him, ''Commentary on the Services and Charges of William Lord Grey de Wilton'',
[ which was not published until the nineteenth century. It deals mainly with his father's military campaigns in Scotland and France, and has been highly praised by historians for the vivid first-hand account of the last days of English rule in Calais and Guisnes.][Prescott, H.F.M. ''Mary Tudor - the Spanish Tudor'', Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1952]
References
Bibliography
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grey De Wilton, Arthur Grey, 14th Baron
1536 births
1593 deaths
16th-century English nobility
People of the Second Desmond Rebellion
Lords Lieutenant of Ireland
Lord-lieutenants of Buckinghamshire
16th-century English knights
Arthur
Arthur is a masculine given name of uncertain etymology. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur.
A common spelling variant used in many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages is Artur. In Spanish and Ital ...
Barons Grey de Wilton (1295)