Charles Grey MP KG (1764 - 1845)

Born 13 Mar 1764 in Fallodon, Northumberland, England

Ancestors

Husband of Mary Elizabeth (Ponsonby) Grey — married 18 Nov 1794 in England

Descendants

Died 17 Jul 1845 at age 81 in Howick, Northumberland, England

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Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey (1764-1845), Prime Minister - via National Portrait Gallery

Biography

Charles Grey MP KG is Notable.

Charles Grey MP KG was born in Falloden, Northumberland, England.

Charles Grey was born on 13 March 1764 in Fallodon, Northumberland, England, ^[1]
and baptized on 14 March 1764 at Embleton, Northumberland, England. ^[2] Fallodon is a hamlet located about 2 miles west of Embleton.
He was the son of Elizabeth Grey and Charles Grey KB, PC, KG.

Sir Charles Grey was a member of the aristocracy in British Isles.

This profile is part of the Gray Name Study.

While attending a Whig society meeting at Devonshire House, he met the married Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire. They became lovers and in 1791 she became pregnant. She was sent to France, where she gave birth to an illegitimate daughter, who was raised by Grey's parents.

He was a British politician from 1792 until his death. ^[3]

He married in Nov 1794 to Lady Mary Elizabeth Ponsonby ^[4] and they had 14 children.

Sir Charles Grey MP, KG was 2nd Earl Grey, Baron Grey and Viscount Howick.

From 1830 to 1834 he served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

He was involved in the 1830 Swing Riots by agricultural workers in southern and eastern England in protest of agricultural mechanisation and harsh working conditions.

His Whig government passed 1832 Reform Acts which significantly democratized Parliamentary representation throughout the United Kingdom. His government also enacted the 1833 Slavery Abolition Act bringing about the abolition of slavery in most of the British Empire.

He was known as a great reform statesman and was commemorated with a street name in central Newcastle upon Tyne and a college of Durham University and a monument on the eastern edge of Stanton Moor in Derbyshire, England. The Reform or Earl Grey Tower was built by William Pole Thornhill and dedicated to the Reform Act 1832.

He was portrayed by Dominic Cooper in the 2008 film "The Duchess". ^[5] Perhaps his most notable legacy outside of politics, is that Earl Grey tea was named after him. ^[6]

He died on 17 July 1845 in England.

Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey the tea controversy[1]

Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, the most likely namesake of Earl Grey tea. It has been suggested that the Earl Grey blend, or "Earl Grey's Mixture", may have been named after Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, British Prime Minister in the 1830s. However, the fact that adding bergamot to tea was being done in a disreputable manner near the time of his death suggests that, while it is possible that the second Earl Grey encountered tea flavoured with bergamot, it seems rather unlikely that he would have championed it. Nonetheless, there have been a number of theories attempting to link the tea to the earl.

One legend claims that a grateful Chinese mandarin, whose son was rescued from drowning by one of Lord Grey's men, first presented the blend to the Earl in 1803. The tale appears to be apocryphal, as Lord Grey never travelled to China and the use of bergamot oil to scent tea was then unknown in China. However, this tale is subsequently told (and slightly corrected) on the Twinings Web site, as "having been presented by an envoy on his return from China".

Another legend claims that he received as a gift, probably a diplomatic perquisite, tea flavoured with bergamot oil, perhaps as a result of his ending the monopoly held by the East India Company on trade between Britain and China.

According to the Grey family, the tea was specially blended by a Chinese mandarin for Lord Grey, to suit the water at Howick Hall, the family seat in Northumberland, using bergamot in particular to offset the preponderance of lime in the local water. Lady Grey used it to entertain in London as a political hostess, and it proved so popular that she was asked if it could be sold to others, which was how Twinings came to market it as a brand.

Jacksons of Piccadilly claim they originated Earl Grey's Tea, Lord Grey having given the recipe to George Charlton, partner at Robert Jackson & Co., in 1830. According to Jacksons, the original recipe has been in constant production and has never left their hands. Theirs has been based on Chinese black tea since the beginning.

Alternative theories

Other theories for the provenance of the tea suggest that its development had nothing to do with any Earl, and that the title was added at a later date.

References have been found in old advertisements dating to the 1850s and 1860s (after the death of the second Earl of Grey) to "Grey's Tea" or "Grey's mixture", with the earliest being attributed to a tea merchant named William Grey in 1852.[2]

Advertisement in 1852: If your pockets and palates you both want to please, Buy William Grey’s finest of Teas, His, at Four Shillings, is unequale’d they say, Then come with your money, and purchase of Grey.

The first known published references to an "Earl Grey" tea are advertisements by Charlton & Co. of Jermyn Street in London in the 1880s. It has been suggested that the "Earl" title was added to make the tea seem more posh, or alternately that it became associated with Henry Grey, 3rd Earl Grey, who was alive when the "Earl" title began to be attributed to the tea.

Earl Grey acquired a royal tinge after a mention in the book ‘Revelation of High Life Within Royal Palaces‘, supposedly by the ‘Marquise de Fontenoy’, but very likely a fiction by the novelist Marguerite Cunliffe-Owen, published in the USA around 1891, but widely quoted-from elsewhere.

It is only from the early 20th Century, and not before, that the London tea merchants Twinings in The Strand and Jackson’s of Piccadilly have both claimed the product as their own. It is Twinings who have obtained the endorsement of Richard, the sixth Earl Grey, (b.1939--d.2013), whose signature appears on their packages. We have never found any evidence that either company was connected with the origin of the Earl Grey brand or blend, but would welcome further information.

Twinings also offer a tea variety branded as ‘Lady Grey’ made with lemon and Seville orange in addition to bergamot. There are dozens of other variants, including lavender, green and floral.

Earl Grey seems to be a favourite drink of fictional heroes, including Jean-Luc Picard of Star Trek, Batman, Artemis Fowl, Piglet, Sir Leigh Teabing from the Da Vinci Code and Ducky Mallard of NCIS.

Sources

1. ↑ Title: Grey of Howick
2. ↑ England Births and Christenings 1538-1975 on FamilySearch.org citing FHL#94,974; for Charles Grey, bpt:14 Mar 1764 Embleton, Northumberland, England
3. ↑ Wikipedia: Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey
4. ↑ Family Notices in British Newspaper Archive on FamilySearch.org citing FindMyPast.com; m: 26 Nov 1794 UK for Charles Grey & Ponfonby
5. ↑ "The Duchess" by Saul Dibb, Pathe Distribution 2008; on IMDB.com
6. ↑ "All the Tea in China" by Ione Kramer & China Books in 1990; isbn#0-8351-2194-1; p180–181

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Research Notes

There has been a discrepancy for his marriage date ...

m: 18 Nov 1794 ? OR

m: 26 Nov 1794 ? - or perhaps one is the banns read

• Grey-482 was created on 11 Dec 2011 by Christensen

• Grey-3331 was created on 03 Dec 2022 by Ian Thomas