Sir George Grey was an efficient home secretary in Lord John Russell’s government of the late 1840s and helped the government successfully meet the challenge of Chartism. He was the 11th Prime Minister of New Zealand.
Background
George Grey was born on 14 April 1799 in Lisbon. He was the only son of George Grey, third son of Charles, first Earl Grey. His uncle was Sir Charles Grey, who became second Earl of Howick and was prime minister between 1830 and 1834. Georges mother was Mary, daughter of Samuel Whitbread of Bedwell Park, Hertfordshire. His mother was religious and brought him up in a pious manner
Education
He was educated by the Rev. William Buckle before going to Oriel College, Oxford, in 1817. After graduating from Oxford with a first class honors degree in 1821, he intended to seek holy orders, but he decided instead to study law. He was called to the bar in 1826.
Career
Grey’s political career began in 1832 when he was elected to the House of Commons for the newly enfranchised seat of Devonport. He was also later elected M.P. for Northumberland (1847-1852) and for Morpeth (1853-1874). In 1834 he was offered the post of undersecretary for the colonies, under Thomas Spring-Rice. Melbourne’s government soon fell; but after a brief interruption, Grey continued in the same post when Melbourne formed a new ministry in April 1835. Grey’s main task was to carry out the provisions for the emancipation of slaves in the West Indies. In 1839 Grey was advanced to the post of judge advocate general, which he held until June 1841, when he became, for a few months, chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster— a cabinet post that involved no departmental responsibility. In 1846 the death of an uncle, Sir Henry Grey, provided him with a family estate at Fallodon, in Northumberland, where he lived for the remainder of his life.
A careful and moderate politician, Grey was appointed home secretary in Lord John Russell’s government, a post in which he served from 1846 to 1852. He held the same post on two other occasions (1855-1858 and 1861— 1866). He was out of Parliament briefly, losing his Northumberland seat in 1852, but was returned to Parliament in 1853.
In 1854 he accepted the post of secretary of the Colonial Office in Lord Aberdeen’s Coalition government. It was Lord Palmerston who gave him the post of home secretary again in his new ministry in 1855. Grey’s main task at this time was to maintain internal order and reorganize the police. Grey continued as home secretary until the collapse of Palmerston’s ministry in 1858. When Palmerston returned to power, Grey became chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in 1859.
Grey returned to the Home Office in 1861. His main challenge during this period appears to have been the cattle plague of 1866. In that year Earl Russell resigned and was replaced by William Ewart Gladstone as prime minister, as a result of which Grey retired from government. Grey resigned from Parliament in 1874, standing down in favor of Thomas Burt, the miners’ leader. Grey spent the rest of his life as a country gentleman and died on 9 September 1882.
Achievements
Personality
Grey was a popular figure, with many friends and few enemies. He was not personally ambitious and was content to be an efficient administrator rather than seeking political prominence and prestige.
Connections
In 1827 he married Anna Sophia, eldest daughter of Henry Ryder, Bishop of Lichfield, son of the first Earl of Harrowby.