Thomas Grey, 2nd Earl of Stamford

Thomas Grey, 2nd Earl of Stamford

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

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

He took some part in resisting the arbitrary actions of Charles II, and was arrested in July 1685; then after his release he took up arms on behalf of William of Orange, after whose accession to the throne he was made a Privy Counsellor (1694) and Lord Lieutenant of Devon (1696). 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.

On his death without 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.

See also

List of deserters from James II to William of Orange

References

• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages
• Kenyon, J.P. The Popish Plot 2nd Edition Phoenix Press 2000

Attribution

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: 

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
	Custos Rotulorum of Devon 1696–1711
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