Henry Grey, 8th Earl of Kent (c. 1583 – 21 November 1639) of

Wrest Park 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 ...

, Bedfordshire was

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 ...

from 1623 to his death.

Biography

He was born the only son of Charles Grey, 7th Earl of Kent and his wife Susan Cotton and educated at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, 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 ...

. His legal agents include

John Selden John Selden (16 December 1584 – 30 November 1654) was an English jurist, a scholar of England's ancient laws and constitution and scholar of Jewish law. He was known as a polymath; John Milton hailed Selden in 1644 as "the chief of learned m ...

, a prominent jurist. On 16 November 1601, at

St Martin-in-the-Fields St Martin-in-the-Fields is a Church of England parish church at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. Dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours, there has been a church on the site since at least the medieval pe ...

, Henry married Elizabeth Talbot (1582 – 7 December 1651), a daughter of

Gilbert Talbot, 7th Earl of Shrewsbury Gilbert Talbot, 7th Earl of Shrewsbury, 7th Earl of Waterford, 13th Baron Talbot, KG (20 November 1552 – 8 May 1616), styled Lord Talbot from 1582 to 1590, was a peer in the peerage of England. He also held the subsidiary titles of 16th Baro ...

and Mary Cavendish. There were no known children from this marriage. He was knighted in 1603. He was elected member of parliament for

Tavistock Tavistock ( ) is an ancient stannary and market town and civil parish in the West Devon district, in the county of Devon, England. It is situated on the River Tavy, from which its name derives. At the 2011 census, the three electoral wards (N ...

in 1601 and

knight of the shire Knight of the shire () was the formal title for a member of parliament (MP) representing a county constituency in the British House of Commons, from its origins in the medieval Parliament of England until the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 ...

for

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...

in 1614. He served as

Lord Lieutenant of Bedfordshire This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Bedfordshire. Since 1711, all Lords Lieutenant have also been Custos Rotulorum of Bedfordshire. * William Parr, 1st Marquess of Northampton 1549–1551 *Oliver St John, 1st Baron ...

from 1621 to 1627 and again from 1629 to his death. From 1621 to 1623, Henry held the title jointly with his father Charles Grey, 7th Earl of Kent. From 1625 to 1627 and again from 1629 to his death, he held the title jointly with

Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Cleveland Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Cleveland (159125 March 1667), was an English landowner and Royalist general during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, described by one historian as a "much under-rated field commander". A distant relative of Thomas W ...

. He died childless and his primary title as Earl of Kent was inherited by his closest male-line relative, Anthony Grey, 9th Earl of Kent, the Rector of Burbage, Leicestershire. Anthony was a second cousin of his father as they were both great-grandsons of George Grey, 2nd Earl of Kent. His title of Baron Grey de Ruthyn was awarded by the House of Lords to his nephew Charles Longueville, 12th Baron Grey de Ruthyn, son of his sister Susan.

Sources

The Complete Peerage ''The Complete Peerage'' (full title: ''The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom Extant, Extinct, or Dormant''); first edition by George Edward Cokayne, Clarenceux King of Arms; 2nd edition re ...

History of Parliament GREY, Henry (c.1583-1639) of Flitton, Beds

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kent, Henry Grey, 8th Earl of 1580s births 1639 deaths Year of birth uncertain Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Earls of Kent (1465 creation) Lord-lieutenants of Bedfordshire

Henry Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...

16th-century English nobility 17th-century English nobility English MPs 1601 English MPs 1614 Barons Grey of Ruthin