Ford Grey, 1st Earl of Tankerville, PC (20 July 1655 – 24 June 1701) was an English peer and politician.

Early life

Grey was the eldest son of Ralph Grey, 2nd Baron Grey of Werke and Catherine Ford, daughter of Sir Edward Ford of

Harting Harting is a civil parish in the Chichester District of West Sussex, England. It is situated on the northern flank of the South Downs, around southeast of Petersfield in Hampshire. It comprises the village of South Harting and the hamlets of Ea ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

. He was baptised the day of his birth at Harting. His family seat was Chillingham Castle in

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

, which he inherited on his father's death in 1675. His younger brother, Ralph was an officer in the Army and Whig MP for Berwick who served as the Governor of Barbados. His sister, Hon. Catherine Grey, married Richard Neville, MP for

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

Career

In 1682 Grey achieved notoriety for being found guilty of seducing his wife's sister, Lady Henrietta Berkeley for which he was arrested, tried and ultimately freed. In 1683 he was arrested for involvement in the Rye House Plot but escaped from the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic citadel and castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamle ...

in July and fled with Lady Henrietta and her new husband to France. He later became one of the leaders of the

Monmouth Rebellion The Monmouth Rebellion in June 1685 was an attempt to depose James II of England, James II, who in February had succeeded his brother Charles II of England, Charles II as king of Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland and ...

, landing with Monmouth at Lyme Regis in June 1685. He was in command of the cavalry, and its defeat on two occasions may have been caused by his cowardice, possibly even by his treachery. He was taken prisoner and condemned for high treason, but he obtained a pardon by freely giving evidence against his former associates, and was restored to his honours in June 1686. During the reign of William III he was made Privy Councillor on 11 May 1695 and, on 11 June 1695, created Viscount Glendale and Earl of Tankerville. From 1695 until his death he was a Commissioner of Greenwich Hospital; from November 1699 until November 1700, First Lord of the Treasury. During the absence of the King from June until October 1700, he was a Lord Justice of the Realm, and from November 1700 until his death, Lord Privy Seal.

Personal life

Grey married Lady Mary Berkeley, daughter of George Berkeley, 1st Earl of Berkeley and his wife, Elizabeth Massingberd. They were the parents of at least two daughters: * Lady Mary Grey (b. ), who married Charles Bennet, 2nd Lord Ossulston, on 3 July 1695. He was later created 1st Earl of Tankerville, new creation, and died on 31 May 1710. * Lady Annabella Grey (d. 1698), who married John Cecil, 6th Earl of Exeter, in 1697 but died in August 1698 leaving no children. He died on 24 June 1701. After Grey's death, Lady Mary married Richard Rooth of Epsom.

In popular culture

In Sir

Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Hol ...

's novel about the

, '' Micah Clarke'' (1889), Grey is represented as the character Lord Grey of Warke. In Aphra Behn's epistolary novel, '' Love-Letters Between a Nobleman and His Sister'', Grey is represented as the character Philander. In the 1972 HTV series '' Pretenders'', which also depicted the Monmouth Rebellion, Lord Grey was played by David Jackson.

References

External links

The Trial of Ford, Lord Grey of Werk
* Greaves, Richard L
"Grey, Ford, earl of Tankerville (bap. 1655, d. 1701)"
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online edition, May 2009 {{DEFAULTSORT:Tankerville, Ford Grey, 1st Earl of 1655 births 1701 deaths 17th-century English nobility 18th-century English nobility Members of the Green Ribbon Club People of the Rye House Plot People from Harting Ford English politicians convicted of crimes Lords Privy Seal Members of the Privy Council of England Monmouth Rebellion Earls in the Peerage of England 3 Grey baronets