Thomas Grey, 2nd Earl of Stamford

The Right Honourable
The Earl of Stamford
PC
The Right Honourable The Earl of Stamford PC
	Portrait by Jonathan Richardson
President of the Board of Trade
	In office; 9 June 1699 – 19 June 1702
Monarchs	William III; Anne
Preceded by	The Earl of Bridgewater
Succeeded by	The Viscount Weymouth
	In office; 1705 – 12 June 1711
Monarch	Anne
Preceded by	The Viscount Weymouth
Succeeded by	The Earl of Winchilsea
Personal details
Born	1654
Died	31 January 1720 (aged 65–66)

Thomas Grey, 2nd Earl of Stamford, PC (c. 1654 – 31 January 1720) was a British peer and politician.^[1]

Biography[edit]

Grey was the only son of Thomas, Lord Grey of Groby, and inherited his title from his grandfather.^[1] His mother was Lady Dorothy Bourchier, daughter of Edward Bourchier, 4th Earl of Bath.

Grey took some part in resisting the arbitrary actions of James II, and was arrested in July 1685. After his release he took up arms on behalf of William of Orange in the Glorious Revolution, after whose accession to the throne he was made a Privy Counsellor (1694) and Lord Lieutenant of Devon (1696).^[1] Politically he was described as an "unrepentant Whig", who reaffirmed his belief in the Popish Plot by voting against the motion to reverse the attainder on William Howard, 1st Viscount Stafford.

In 1697 he became Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and in 1699 President of the Board of Trade, being dismissed from his office upon the accession of Anne in 1702. From 1707 to 1711, however, he was again President of the Board of Trade.^[1]

He married twice: firstly in 1651, Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Daniel Harvey (diplomat), ambassador to the Ottoman Empire (divorced), and secondly in 1691, Mary, daughter of Joseph Maynard, MP in the Cavalier Parliament. On his death without surviving children, his titles and Leicestershire estate at Bradgate Park passed to his first cousin Henry Grey, 3rd Earl of Stamford (1685–1739), a grandson of the first earl, from whom the later earls were descended.^[1]

The arms of the head of the Grey family are blazoned Barry of six argent and azure in chief three torteaux gules.^{[citation needed]}

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Stamford, Henry Grey, 1st Earl of". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 25 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 769.

Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages ^{[self-published source]} ^{[better source needed]}
Kenyon, J. P. The Popish Plot 2nd Edition Phoenix Press 2000

Honorary titles
Preceded by The Earl of Huntingdon	Custos Rotulorum of Leicestershire 1689–1702	Succeeded by The Earl of Rutland
Preceded by The Earl of Bath	Lord Lieutenant of Devon 1696–1702	Succeeded by The Earl Poulett
Preceded by The Earl of Bath	Custos Rotulorum of Devon 1696–1711	Succeeded by The Earl Poulett
Political offices
Preceded by The Lord Willoughby de Eresby	Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 1697–1702	Succeeded by Sir John Leveson-Gower
Preceded by The Earl of Bridgewater	President of the Board of Trade 1699–1702	Succeeded by The Viscount Weymouth
Preceded by The Viscount Weymouth	President of the Board of Trade 1707–1711	Succeeded by The Earl of Winchilsea
Peerage of England
Preceded by Henry Grey	Earl of Stamford 1673–1720	Succeeded by Henry Grey

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