Sir George Grey, 2nd Baronet, PC (11 May 1799 – 9 September 1882) was a British Whig politician and a scion of the noble House of Grey. He held office under four Prime Ministers, Lord Melbourne, Lord John Russell, Lord Aberdeen, and Lord Palmerston, notably serving three times as Home Secretary for a collective 13 years.

Background and education

Grey was the eldest son of Sir George Grey, 1st Baronet, who was himself the third son of Charles Grey, 1st Earl Grey, and younger brother of Prime Minister Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey. His mother was Mary Whitbread, daughter of Samuel Whitbread, an English brewer and Member of Parliament. He was born at Gibraltar, where is father was engaged as part of his naval command.

Grey was educated privately and at Oriel College, Oxford. Originally intending to become a priest, he instead chose law as his profession, and was called to the bar in 1826. He began a successful legal practice before entering politics.

Political career, 1832–1853

Grey was elected to parliament as a Whig for Devonport in 1832, and quickly made his mark in the House of Commons. He did not hold office in the Whig administration of his uncle Lord Grey, but when Lord Melbourne became prime minister in 1834, he was appointed Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies. The government fell in December of that year, but returned to power in May 1835, when Grey resumed the post of Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies (succeeding William Ewart Gladstone). He retained this office until 1839, when he was made Judge Advocate General. The same year Grey was also admitted to the Privy Council. He was then briefly Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in 1841, with a seat in the cabinet for the first time until the Whigs were defeated in the general election that year.

The Whigs returned to power in July 1846 under Lord John Russell, who appointed Grey Home Secretary, the first of his three spells in this position. In 1846, Grey, "himself a zealous advocate of hydropathy" succeeded in getting passed The Baths and Washhouses Act, which promoted the voluntary establishment of public baths and washhouses in England and Wales. A series of statutes followed, which became known collectively as "The Baths and Wash-houses Acts 1846 to 1896". This was an important milestone in the improvement of sanitary conditions and public health in those times. His only son and heir was George Henry Grey. His eldest grandson Edward inherited the estate at Fallodon.

Arms

See also

  • Earl Grey
  • House of Grey
  • Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon

Notes

a. Online searches for reference to the relevant acts have so far yielded listings from the London Gazette. See also the Parliamentary Archives website.

References

;Bibliography

  • Dr. Creighton, A Memoir of Sir George Grey, Longmans & Co., 1901