Background
Gray was born in New England, and visited England for the first time as a schoolboy in the 1970s.
Gray was born in New England, and visited England for the first time as a schoolboy in the 1970s.
He famously claimed that the Cornish Pasty was in fact invented in Devon in about 1460 which not only caused consternation in Cornwall, but was remarked upon as far away as China. As an undergraduate student Gray returned to England to attend the University of London to complete his degree, and in 1989 obtained a Doctorate in History from Exeter University. He remains in 2014 a Research Fellow of the University and is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.
He obtained British citizenship in 2006.
At one time he wrote a weekly column "history Matters" for the Exeter Express and Echo local newspaper.