Grey, Ford Grey, 3rd Baron

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Grey, Ford Grey, 3rd Baron (1655–1701). Grey had a turbulent but dexterous political career. He inherited his barony at the age of 19 and was an ardent exclusionist, voting Lord Stafford guilty in 1680. In 1682 he was tried for abducting his wife's sister but the matter was compromised after he had been found guilty. In 1683 he was again on trial for a riot at the Guildhall and was later implicated in the Rye House plot. Sent to the Tower, he escaped and joined Monmouth. He commanded Monmouth's cavalry without much skill in the western rising, was captured, and saved his life by testifying against his companions. Though reinstated by James II in 1686, he adhered to William of Orange, was created earl of Tankerville in 1695 and held office as 1st lord of the Treasury and lord privy seal 1699–1701. ‘A cowardly and incestuous traitor’ was Complete Peerage's terse dismissal.

J. A. Cannon