Grey, Charles, 2nd Earl Grey (1764–1845). Prime minister. Son of General Sir Charles Grey of Fallodon, Northumberland, Grey entered Parliament in 1786 as a member for Northumberland. Grey inherited Howick in 1808, from which he could rarely be tempted to attend to his duties as leader of the Whig Party after
Fox's death.
A headstrong young man, Grey was attracted to Fox and his circle and joined the opposition to
Pitt. He distinguished himself from the outset as a brilliant orator in the House of Commons, but in 1792 he committed himself to parliamentary reform, helping to found the Association of the
Friends of the People. He hoped to use the reform movement to advance his career but the step split the Whigs, aristocratic grandees like the duke of
Portland and Earl
Fitzwilliam being frightened by the prospect of the spread of the French Revolution. They joined Pitt in 1794, while Fox and Grey led the rump of the party in opposition.
After the peace of
Amiens and the subsequent resumption of war against Napoleon the Whigs formed a coalition with the group led by Lord
Grenville, but their conservatism meant that Grey had to give up active support of reform. In the ‘Ministry of All the
Talents’ (1806–7) Grey served as 1st lord of the Admiralty and after Fox's death succeeded him as foreign secretary. After the fall of the ‘Talents’, Grey tried to steer a middle course between radicalism and conservatism.
In 1807 Grey inherited the peerage which, to his dismay,
Addington had conferred on his father in 1802. For the remainder of his life he sat in the House of Lords, where his oratorical gifts were less effective. Though he never quite abandoned the position of leader of the Whig opposition,the party suffered from a lack of positive direction. He consistently advocated
catholic emancipation and gave important assistance to
Wellington in achieving it in 1829.
In 1830 George IV's death removed the royal veto on Grey and at the same time the demand for parliamentary reform revived in the country. Wellington's refusal to consider it broke up his administration and William IV sent for Grey, at the age of 66, to form the ministry which was to pass the
Great Reform Act. This was Grey's major achievement. He proposed it on the same principles which he had professed in 1792, the need to satisfy the demand of the respectable classes for greater representation while denying power to the mass of the people. He was able to persuade William IV to maintain a reluctant support for the measure and, finally, to promise to create enough new peers, if necessary, to force the bill through the House of Lords. His cabinet was a coalition of interests rather than a united party, and in 1834 when its divisions over the Irish church question became public Grey resigned, with relief at ending his burdensome duties. He spent the rest of his life in retirement at Howick.
