Albert Grey, 4th Earl Grey

"Albert Grey" redirects here. For other uses, seeAlbert Grey (disambiguation).

Albert Henry George Grey, 4th Earl Grey,GCB,GCMG,GCVO,PC(28 November 1851 – 29 August 1917) was a British peer and politician who served asGovernor General of Canadafrom 1904 to 1911, theninthsinceCanadian Confederation.He was a radical Liberal aristocrat and a member of a string of liberal high society clubs in London. An active and articulate campaigner in late Victorian England, he was associated with many of the leading Imperialists seeking change.

The Right Honourable The Earl Grey GCBGCMGGCVOPC
9thGovernor General of Canada
In office 10 December 1904 – 13 October 1911
Monarchs	Edward VII George V
Prime Minister	Canadian •Wilfrid Laurier •Robert Borden British •Arthur Balfour •Henry Campbell-Bannerman •H. H. Asquith
Preceded by	The Earl of Minto
Succeeded by	Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn
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Personal details
Born	(1851-11-28)28 November 1851 London, England
Died	29 August 1917(1917-08-29)(aged 65) Howick Hall,England, United Kingdom
Spouse	Alice Holford
Children	5, includingCharles Grey, 5th Earl GreyandLady Sybil Grey
Parent(s)	General Sir Charles Grey Caroline Eliza Farquhar
Alma mater	Trinity College, Cambridge
Football career
Career highlights and awards
Honors	KGStJ, Hon DCL Oxford, Hon LLD Cantab, Hon LLD McGill, Hon LLD Queen's, Chancellor of Order of St Michael and St George, Hon Col 6th bn Northumberland Fusiliers.
Career stats
Canadian Football Hall of Fame,1963

Albert Grey was born into anobleand political family, though at birth not in direct line to inherit the earldom. His father, General Charles Grey, was a younger brother of the3rd Earl,who died without issue. As General Grey was deceased, the titles descended to his eldest living son Albert, then in his forties. Albert was educated atHarrow Schoolbefore going up toTrinity College, Cambridge,where he graduated MA and LLM."His grandfather was the2nd Earl Grey,who was prime minister of the United Kingdom from 1830 to 1834 and, reputedly, the recipient of a diplomatic gift from China of black tea scented with bergamot oil, which became known asEarl Grey tea."

In 1878, Albert Grey entered into politics as a member of theLiberal Partyand, after relinquishing a tied vote to his opponent, eventually won a place in theBritish House of Commonsin 1880. In 1894 Grey inherited anearldomfromhis uncle, the third Earl,and thereafter took his place in theHouse of Lords,while simultaneously undertaking business ventures around theBritish Empireas Director of theBritish South Africa Companyfrom 1898, he experienced a steep learning curve during high tension with the Boers. As administrator in Rhodesia he was directly responsible toCecil Rhodesfor conduct of the colony's business from 1894 to 1897. On his return in 1899 he was appointedLord Lieutenantof his native Northumberland.

Grey was appointed as Governor General of Canada by KingEdward VIIin 1904, on the recommendation ofPrime Minister of the United KingdomArthur Balfour,to replacethe Earl of Mintoasviceroyand occupied that post until succeeded byPrince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn,in 1911. Grey travelled extensively in Canada and was active in Canadian political affairs, including national unity, leaving behind him a number of legacies, the most prominent being theGrey Cup.

Youth, education, and early career

AtHarrow

Grey in 1873 (front row, second from right), Shakespeare Society,Trinity College, Cambridge

Grey was the younger and only surviving son ofGeneral Sir Charles Grey—a younger son of former British prime ministerthe second Earl Greyand later theprivate secretarytoPrince Albertand later still toQueen Victoria—and his wife, Caroline Eliza Farquhar, eldest daughter ofSir Thomas Harvie Farquhar, Bt.He was born at Cadogan House, Middlesex. Many members of the family had enjoyed successful political careers based on reform, including to colonial policies; Grey's grandfather, while prime minister, championed theReform Act 1832and in 1846, Grey's uncle, thethird Earl Grey,asSecretary of State for War and the Coloniesduring the first ministry ofLord John Russell,was the first to suggest that colonies should be self-sustaining and governed for the benefit of their inhabitants, instead of for the benefit of the United Kingdom.

Grey was educated atHarrow Schooland thenTrinity College, Cambridge,where he studied history and law.After graduating in 1873, Grey became private secretary toSir Henry Bartle Frereand, as Frere was a member of theCouncil of India,Grey accompaniedPrince Albert Edward, Prince of Wales,on his tour ofIndia.In 1877, Grey marriedAlice Holford,daughter ofRobert Stayner Holford,the Member of Parliament for East Gloucestershire. Together, they had five children, one of whom died in early childhood.

Parliamentary and administrative career

Grey stood for parliament atSouth Northumberlandin 1878 (at the age of 28). He received the same number of votes as his opponentEdward Ridley,but Grey declined a scrutiny and was not returned.It was not until thegeneral election of 1880that Grey, theLiberal Partycandidate, was elected as a member of parliament (MP) for South Northumberland, a seat he held until it was replaced under theRedistribution of Seats Act 1885and he moved to be the MP forTyneside,followingthat year's election.In 1884 he wrote to the Manchester-basedWomen's Suffrage Journaldeclaring his support for women's suffrage, writing that "[t]here are no questions which receive so little attention, or which, in my opinion, so urgently call for the close and serious consideration of social reformers, as those affecting the condition of women. The possession of a vote by women who are heads of households will lead to the formation of associations and unions for the protection and advancement of the interests of their sex."

Another reform he supported was electoral reform, favoringproportional representationandSingle transferable voting.H was active in the Proportional Representation Society of Britain. (At the time of his passing, he was its president).He organized a model STV election in Northumberland in 1885, remarkably using untrained coal miners as staff to conduct it successfully.

Inspired by the theories ofGiuseppe Mazzini,Grey became an advocate ofimperialismand was one of the founders of theImperial Federation League,which sought to transform theBritish Empireinto anImperial Federation.Grey thus split with Prime MinisterWilliam Gladstonein 1886 overIrish home ruleand became aLiberal Unionist,but the shift was short-lived as Grey failed to win his constituency again in the1886 general election.

Eight years later, in October 1894,Grey succeeded his uncle,the 3rd Earl Grey,as the 4thEarl Greyand returned to Parliament when taking his seat in theHouse of Lords.As a friend ofCecil Rhodes,Lord Grey became one of the first four trustees responsible for the administration of the scholarship funds which established theRhodes Scholarshipand he was invited by Rhodes to be a member of the board of directors and director of theBritish South Africa Company,coming to serve as the main liaison between Rhodes and theSecretary of State for the Colonies,Joseph Chamberlain,in the periods immediately before and after theJameson Raidon theTransvaal.As theAdministrator of Southern Rhodesia,Sir Leander Starr Jameson,was disgraced by the Jameson Raid, the British government, then headed bythe Marquess of Salisbury,in 1896 asked Lord Grey to serve as Jameson's immediate replacement, staying in that role until 1897.Two years later, Grey was also appointed asLord Lieutenant of Northumberlandand published a brief biography of a young relative,Hubert Hervey, who was killed in theSecond Matabele War.

Governor General of Canada

Grey in the governor general's office atRideau Hall,Ottawa

In office

On 4 October 1904 announcement made thatKing Edward VIIhad,by commission under theroyal sign-manualandsignet,approved the recommendation of his British prime minister,Arthur Balfour,to appoint Grey as his representative to Canada, replacing Grey's brother-in-law,the Earl of Minto.(Minto was married to Grey's sister, Mary Caroline Grey.) The appointment came at a good time for Grey, as a series of failed investments in South Africa had left him penniless; a gift from his wife's aunt,Lady Wantage(widow ofthe Lord Wantage), was used to supplement his salary as governor general.

On 16 June 1905 Grey was designated as "Governor General of Canada andCommander-in-Chief of the Dominion of Canada,"which followed on the passing of theMilitia Actin 1904. At the request ofSir Robert Baden-Powell,Grey also undertook the role of Chief Scout of Canada.

During the time Grey occupied the viceregal office (1904-1911) Canada experienced large-scale immigration, industrialisation, and economic development, and secured increased independence from the United Kingdom.

It was with Grey's granting ofRoyal Assentto the appropriate Acts of Parliament thatAlbertaandSaskatchewanwere separated from the North-West Territories to become provinces,The Governor General, writing to the King at the time, stated "[each one] a new leaf in Your Majesty's Maple Crown."

As Governor General, he travelled extensively around the ever-growing country. He journeyed abroad to theDominion of Newfoundland(then not yet a part of Canada) and several times to the United States to visit PresidentTheodore Roosevelt,with whom Grey developed a strong bond.

Grey withPrince George, Prince of Wales,at the celebrations of the tercentenary ofQuebecin Quebec City, 24 July 1908

Grey often exercised his right, as representative of a constitutional monarch, to advise, encourage, and warn. He desired social reform and cohesion. He put his support behind prison reforms in Canada to provide greater social justice. He was also an advocate for electoral reform, endorsingproportional representation.His past calls for political equality for Irish Catholics were relevant to Canada's internal politics, divided as the population was between Catholics and Protestants, Francophones and Anglophones.

As governor General, Grey also encouraged his prime minister,Sir Wilfrid Laurier,to support the Imperial Federation he had long championed, but Laurier was uninterested. Grey suggested the construction of arailway hotelin the federal capital - the outcome was the palatialChâteau Laurier,completed in 1912.

Grey's years of urging Laurier to get the Cabinet and Parliament to agree to the idea of aCanadian navywere more fruitful. At the Governor General's urging, the Canadian and British governments agreed to have Canada assume control of the former British garrisons atHalifax, Nova Scotia,andEsquimalt, British Columbia,after which theRoyal Canadian Navywas created by theNaval Service Act.The Act was so identified with Grey that, inQuebec,it was referred to asGrey's Billand opposed byHenri Bourassaand hisLigue nationaliste canadienne.

Although Grey strongly promoted national unity among French and English Canadians, as well as advocating unity within the entire British Empire, his pronouncements frequently raised the ire of Bourassa and the Quebec nationalists. Grey helped plan the tercentennial ofQuebecin 1908. This event marked the 300th anniversary of the landing ofSamuel de Champlainat what later becameQuebec City.The Cabinet agreed to Grey's suggestion to have thePlains of Abrahamdesignated as a national park. this was to be done to coincide with the Quebec celebrations, and Grey believed the official ceremony would promote Franco-Anglo-American friendship. The government arranged for the attendance ofthe Prince of Wales(later King George V), American and French warships, and a host of visiting dignitaries. The Ligue saw the ceremony as solely a tribute to the Empire. Bourassa and other Quebec nationalists complained that Grey had transformed a day intended to celebrate Samuel de Champlain into a celebration ofJames Wolfe.

At other times, and unlike future viceroys, the Governor General's influence expanded blatantly into government policy. Grey initially supported Asian immigration to Canada. He opposed thehead taximposed by theChinese Immigration Act of 1885on Chinese immigrants to Canada. He was invited to visit the province ofBritish Columbiabut declined as protest against the exclusionary measures implemented by the BC government underpremierRichard McBride.However, following the Japanese victory in theRusso-Japanese War,he expressed concerned about the so-calledYellow Periland worked with the federal Cabinet to explore restrictions on Asian immigration other than the head tax. He was nevertheless appalled by the 1907 anti-Asian riots inVancouver,organized by BC'sAsiatic Exclusion League.Later that same year, he arranged a visit to Canada byPrince Fushimi Sadanaruof theEmpire of Japan.

Legacy

TheGrey Cup

Throughout his tenure as governor general, Grey supported the arts and, when he departed Canada in 1911, he left behind him the Grey Competition for Music and Drama, first held in 1907. Grey also donated trophies to the Montreal Horse Show and for figure skating.

He was a patron of sport, his feelings on health and fitness a part of his broader desire for a reform movement.He supportedCanadian footballand established theGrey Cup,which is awarded to the winner of the Senior Amateur Football Championship of Canada; it is today presented to the champions of the professional-levelCanadian Football League.In 1963 Grey was elected to theCanadian Football Hall of Famefor his contributions to the game.

He gave to the Crown a horse-drawn carriage he had purchased from theGovernor-General of Australia,which is still today used as the state landau,and added a study and conservatory toRideau Hall,the sovereign's and governor general's Ottawa residence; the latter was torn down in 1924.

Grey and his wife were commended for their work in Canada and for their championing social reforms. Laurier said Lord Grey gave "his whole heart, his whole soul, and his whole life to Canada."

Final years

On leaving office in 1911 Earl Grey and his family returned to the United Kingdom, where he became president of the Royal Colonial Institute (now theRoyal Commonwealth Society).

He did not retire from public affairs. He lobbied and organized toward several goals:

1. to help those who are endeavoring to fight the slums.

2. to help the worker forward in the path of his natural evolution from the status of worker to that of partner.

3. proportional representation – by "the removal of the disparity between Parliamentary constituencies with 40,000 electors, on the one hand, and on the other, other constituencies with less than as many hundreds." (through creation of equal-sized single-member districts. Earl Grey was also a proponent of PR in the sense of elected representation reflecting how votes are cast. In 1916, he was honorary president of the Proportional Representation Society of Canada and president of the British PR Society.

4. Public House Trust [temperance refreshment houses], which is "a necessary adjunct to the first two items of his programme."

On 28 March 1916, he was appointed by King George V as Chancellor of theOrder of St. Michael and St. George.

Grey died in August 1917 at his family residence. (On his deathbed, he penned a "stirring" letter to the editor of the London Times on the need to retain the adoption of proportional representation in the Electoral Reform Bill, being debated by British Parliament at the time.)

Family

Earl and Countess Grey

Lady Sybil Grey & Lady Evelyn Grey Jones, c. 1914

Grey married Alice Holford (d. 22 September 1944), daughter ofRobert Stayner Holford,ofWestonbirt House(Gloucestershire) andDorchester House(London) on 9 June 1877 and had five children, one of whom died in early childhood:

1. Lady Victoria Mary Sybil Grey(9 June 1878 – 3 February 1907) married Lt-Col. Arthur Morton Grenfell, ofWilton Parkin 1901, and had children.
2. Charles Robert Grey, 5th Earl Grey(15 December 1879 – 2 April 1963), who had two daughters by his wife Lady Mabel Laura Georgiana Palmer, daughter ofWilliam Palmer, 2nd Earl of Selborne.The elder daughter Mary (1907–2002) married the 1stBaron Howick of Glendale.
3. Lady Sybil Grey(15 July 1882 – 4 June 1966)O.B.E.marriedLambert William Middleton(1877–1941) of Lowood House,Melrose, Scottish Borders,nephew ofSir Arthur Middleton, 7th BaronetandFrederick Edmund Meredith.She was invested as an Officer, Order of the British Empire in 1918, having served as the Commandant of the Dorchester House Hospital for Officers. She was well known for her work with theRed Crossin Russia during WWI, and for her work with tuberculosis sufferers (founding the Lady Grey Society). She was an amateur photographer and filmmaker of note, and recorded village life atDarnickandSt. Boswells.After her husband died she sold Lowood House and moved toBurley, Hampshire.They had a son and a daughter.
4. Lady Evelyn Alice Grey (14 Mar 1886–15 Apr 1971) marriedSir Lawrence Evelyn Jones,5th Bt. M.C., grandson of SirWilloughby Jones.
5. Lady Lillian Winifred Grey (11 June 1891 – 7 April 1895)

Ancestry

Ancestors of Albert Grey, 4th Earl Grey

8.Charles Grey, 1st Earl Grey 4.Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey 9. Elizabeth Grey 2.Sir Charles Grey 10.William Ponsonby, 1st Baron Ponsonby 5. Mary Elizabeth Ponsonby 11. The Hon. Louisa Molesworth 1.Albert Grey, 4th Earl Grey 12.Sir Walter Farquhar, 1st Baronet,of Cadogan House 6. Sir Thomas Harvie Farquhar, 2nd Baronet, of Cadogan House 13. Anne Stevenson 3. Caroline Eliza Farquhar 14. Reverend Morton Rockcliffe 7. Sybella Martha Rockcliffe 15. Martha Bennett

Honours

Ribbon bars of the Earl Grey

Appointments

• 13 March 1899 – 22 January 1901:Her Majesty's Lieutenant and Custos Rotulorum of the County of Northumberland
  • 22 January 1901 – 13 December 1904:His Majesty's Lieutenant and Custos Rotulorum of the County of Northumberland
• 7 October 1904 – 28 March 1916:Knight Commander of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George(KCMG)
  • 28 March 1916 – 29 August 1917:Chancellor of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George (KCMG)
• 1907 – 13 October 1911:Chief Scout for Canada
• 23 July 1908 – 29 August 1917:Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order(GCVO)
• 29 June 1909 – 29 August 1917:Member of His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council(PC)
• 3 March 1910 – 29 August 1917:Knight of Grace of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem(KStJ)
• 18 March 1910 – 29 August 1917:Honorary Colonel of theNorthumberland Fusiliers6th Battalion
• 23 October 1911 – 29 August 1917:Knight Grand Cross of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath(GCB)

Medals

• 1902:King Edward VII Coronation Medal
• 1911:King George V Coronation Medal

Honorary military appointments

• 10 December 1904 – 13 October 1911:Colonel ofthe Governor General's Horse Guards
• 10 December 1904 – 13 October 1911:Colonel of theGovernor General's Foot Guards
• 10 December 1904 – 13 October 1911:Colonel ofthe Canadian Grenadier Guards

Honorific eponyms

Statue of the Earl Grey at Parc des Champs de Bataille,Quebec City

Geographic locations

• Saskatchewan:Earl Grey
• British Columbia:Mount Earl Grey
• British Columbia:Earl Grey Pass

Schools

• Manitoba:Earl Grey Public School,Winnipeg
• Saskatchewan:Earl Grey School,Earl Grey
• Ontario:Earl Grey Senior Public School, Toronto

Arms

Coat of arms of Albert Grey, 4th Earl Grey

Crest On a wreath Argent and Gules a scaling ladder Or hooked and pointed Azure. Escutcheon Gules a lion rampant within a bordure engrailed Argent in dexter chief point a mullet Or. Supporters Dexter a lion guardant Purpure ducally crowned Or sinister a tiger guardant Proper.

External links

• Hansard1803–2005:contributions in Parliament by the Earl Grey