Albert Grey, 4th Earl Grey
PC | |
---|---|
9th Governor General of Canada | |
In office 10 December 1904 – 13 October 1911 | |
Monarchs | Edward VII George V |
Prime Minister | Canadian • Wilfrid Laurier • Robert Borden British • Arthur Balfour • Henry Campbell-Bannerman • H. H. Asquith |
Preceded by | The Earl of Minto |
Succeeded by | Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn |
More... | |
Personal details | |
Born | London, England | 28 November 1851
Died | 29 August 1917 Howick Hall, England, United Kingdom | (aged 65)
Spouse | Alice Holford |
Children | 5, including Charles Grey, 5th Earl Grey and Lady Sybil Grey |
Parent(s) | General Sir Charles Grey Caroline Eliza Farquhar |
Alma mater | Trinity College, Cambridge |
Football career | |
Career highlights and awards | |
Honors | KGStJ, Hon DCL Oxford, Hon LLD Cantab, Hon LLD McGill, Hon LLD Queen's, Chancellor of Order of St Michael and St George, Hon Col 6th bn Northumberland Fusiliers. |
Career stats | |
Albert Henry George Grey, 4th Earl Grey,
Albert Grey was born into a
In 1878, he entered into politics as a member of the
Grey was appointed as Governor General of Canada by King Edward VII in 1904, on the recommendation of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Arthur Balfour, to replace the Earl of Minto as viceroy and occupied that post until succeeded by Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, in 1911. Grey travelled extensively in Canada and was active in Canadian political affairs, including national unity, leaving behind him a number of legacies, the most prominent being the Grey Cup.
Youth, education, and early career
Grey was educated at
Parliamentary and administrative career
Grey stood for parliament at South Northumberland in 1878 (at the age of 28). He received the same number of votes as his opponent Edward Ridley, but Grey declined a scrutiny and was not returned.[6] It was not until the general election of 1880 that Grey, the Liberal Party candidate, was elected as a member of parliament (MP) for South Northumberland, a seat he held until it was replaced under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 and he moved to be the MP for Tyneside, following that year's election. In 1884 he wrote to the Manchester-based Women's Suffrage Journal declaring his support for women's suffrage, writing that "[t]here are no questions which receive so little attention, or which, in my opinion, so urgently call for the close and serious consideration of social reformers, as those affecting the condition of women. The possession of a vote by women who are heads of households will lead to the formation of associations and unions for the protection and advancement of the interests of their sex."[7]
Another reform he supported was electoral reform, favoring
Inspired by the theories of
Eight years later, in October 1894,
Governor General of Canada
In office
It was on 4 October 1904 announced that
The time during which Grey occupied the viceregal office was one of increasing immigration, industrialisation, and economic development in Canada.
Grey often exercised his right, as representative of a constitutional monarch, to advise, encourage, and warn. He desired social reform and cohesion. He put his support behind prison reforms in Canada to provide greater social justice. He was also an advocate for electoral reform, endorsing proportional representation.[15] His past calls for political equality for Irish Catholics were relevant to Canada's internal politics, divided as the population was between Catholics and Protestants, Francophones and Anglophones.[16]
As governor General, Grey also encouraged his prime minister,
Though Grey strongly promoted national unity among French and English Canadians, as well as advocating unity within the entire British Empire, his causes frequently raised the ire of Bourassa and the Quebec nationalists. Grey was involved in the planning for the tercentennial of
At other times, and unlike future viceroys, the Governor General's influence expanded more blatantly into government policy: Grey opposed the
Legacy
Throughout his tenure as governor general, Grey supported the arts and, when he departed Canada in 1911, he left behind him the Grey Competition for Music and Drama, first held in 1907. He was also a patron of sport, his feelings on health and fitness a part of his broader desire for a reform movement.[17] He gave his support to Canadian football and established the Grey Cup, to be awarded to the winner of the Senior Amateur Football Championship of Canada; it is today presented to the champions of the Canadian Football League and, in 1963, Grey was elected to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame for his contributions to the game. Grey further donated trophies to the Montreal Horse Show and for figure skating.[17] As well, he gave to the Crown a horse-drawn carriage he purchased from the Governor-General of Australia, which is still today used as the state landau,[18] and added a study and conservatory to Rideau Hall, the sovereign's and governor general's Ottawa residence; the latter was torn down in 1924.[4] Grey and his wife were commended for their work in Canada and for their championing social reforms. Laurier said Lord Grey gave "his whole heart, his whole soul, and his whole life to Canada."[4]
Final years
On leaving office in 1911 Earl Grey and his family returned to the United Kingdom, where he became president of the Royal Colonial Institute (now the Royal Commonwealth Society).
He did not retire from public affairs. He lobbied and organized toward several goals:
1. to help those who are endeavoring to fight the slums.
2. to help the worker forward in the path of his natural evolution from the status of worker to that of partner.
3. proportional representation – by "the removal of the disparity between Parliamentary constituencies with 40,000 electors, on the one hand, and on the other, other constituencies with less than as many hundreds." (through creation of equal-sized single-member districts. Earl Grey was also a proponent of PR in the sense of elected representation reflecting how votes are cast. In 1916, he was honorary president of the Proportional Representation Society of Canada and president of the British PR Society.[19]
4. Public House Trust [temperance refreshment houses], which is "a necessary adjunct to the first two items of his programme."[20]
On 28 March 1916, he was appointed by King George V as Chancellor of the Order of St. Michael and St. George.[21] However, Grey died the following year at his family residence.
Family
Grey married Alice Holford (d. 22 September 1944), daughter of Robert Stayner Holford, of Westonbirt House (Gloucestershire) and Dorchester House (London) on 9 June 1877 and had five children, one of whom died in early childhood:
- Lady Victoria Mary Sybil Grey (9 June 1878 – 3 February 1907) married Lt-Col. Arthur Morton Grenfell, of Wilton Park in 1901, and had children.
- Charles Robert Grey, 5th Earl Grey (15 December 1879 – 2 April 1963), who had two daughters by his wife Lady Mabel Laura Georgiana Palmer, daughter of William Palmer, 2nd Earl of Selborne. The elder daughter Mary (1907–2002) married the 1st Baron Howick of Glendale.
- St. Boswells.[22] After her husband died she sold Lowood House and moved to Burley, Hampshire. They had a son and a daughter.
- Lady Evelyn Alice Grey (14 Mar 1886–15 Apr 1971) married Sir Lawrence Evelyn Jones, 5th Bt. M.C., grandson of Sir Willoughby Jones.
- Lady Lillian Winifred Grey (11 June 1891 – 7 April 1895)
Ancestry
Ancestors of Albert Grey, 4th Earl Grey | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Honours
Ribbon bars of the Earl Grey | |||
---|---|---|---|
- Appointments
- 13 March 1899 – 22 January 1901: Her Majesty's Lieutenant and Custos Rotulorum of the County of Northumberland
- 22 January 1901 – 13 December 1904: His Majesty's Lieutenant and Custos Rotulorum of the County of Northumberland[10]
- 7 October 1904 – 28 March 1916: Knight Commander of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George (KCMG)[23]
- 28 March 1916 – 29 August 1917: Chancellor of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George (KCMG)[21]
- 1907 – 13 October 1911: Chief Scout for Canada
- 23 July 1908 – 29 August 1917: Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO)[24]
- Member of His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council (PC)[25]
- Knight of Grace of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (KStJ)[26]
- 18 March 1910 – 29 August 1917: Honorary Colonel of the Northumberland Fusiliers 6th Battalion[27]
- 23 October 1911 – 29 August 1917: Knight Grand Cross of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath (GCB)[28]
- Medals
Honorary military appointments
- the Governor General's Horse Guards
- 10 December 1904 – 13 October 1911: Colonel of the Governor General's Foot Guards
- the Canadian Grenadier Guards
Honorific eponyms
- Geographic locations
- Saskatchewan: Earl Grey
- British Columbia: Mount Earl Grey
- British Columbia: Earl Grey Pass
- Schools
- Manitoba: Earl Grey Public School, Winnipeg
- Saskatchewan: Earl Grey School, Earl Grey
- Ontario: Earl Grey Senior Public School, Toronto
Arms
|
References
- ^ Master of Arts, Master of Law – Burke's Peerage and Baronetage (1999), p.1225
- ^ "Albert Grey, 4th Earl Grey | the Canadian Encyclopedia".
- ^ Burke's Peerage and Baronetage (1999), p.1225
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Office of the Governor General of Canada. "The Governor General > Former Governors General > Earl Grey". Queen's Printer for Canada. Retrieved 13 December 2010.
- ^ "Grey, Albert Henry George (GRY870AH)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
- ^ Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench. London: London Dean. 1886. p. 65.
- ^ Grey, Albert (2 June 1884). "Letters from Members of Parliament: Hon. Albert Grey, M.P." Women's Suffrage Journal. XV: 124 – via Nineteenth Century Collections Online.
- ^ Humphreys, Proportional Representation (1911), p. 129-130
- ^ Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Albert Grey
- ^ a b "No. 27062". The London Gazette. 14 March 1899. p. 1756.
- ^ The Earl Grey (1899), Hubert Hervey, Student and Imperialist, London: Edward Arnold
- ^ "No. 27719". The London Gazette. 4 October 1904. p. 6363.
- ^ The regions that became the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan, as part of the North-West Territories, had been part of Canada since 1870. Encyclopedia Canadiana
- ^ Grey, Albert (1 September 1905). "Grey to Edward VII". In Doig, Ronald P. (ed.). Earl Grey's papers: An introductory survey (1 ed.). London: Private Libraries Association.
- ^ Claresholm Review, Feb. 5, 1909; Grain Growers Guide, Sept. 29, 1915; Edmonton Bulletin, April 6, 1912; Humphreys, Proportional Representation (1911)
- ^ Earl Grey's statement regarding Irish Catholics was recorded in a pamphlet "PPA in Ontario" (1894) (available on-line CIHM 25285)
- ^ a b c Miller, Carman. "Biography > Governors General of Canada > Grey, Albert Henry George, 4th Early Grey". In Marsh, James H. (ed.). The Canadian Encyclopedia. Toronto: Historica Foundation of Canada. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
- ISBN 1-55002-360-8.
- ^ Grain Grower Guide, Aug. 23, 1916
- ^ Edmonton Bulletin, April 6, 1912; Grain Grower Guide, Sept. 29, 1915
- ^ a b "No. 29529". The London Gazette. 28 March 1916. p. 3458.
- ^ http://www.tweedbankvillage.co.uk/Tweedbank%20History.html[permanent dead link]
- ^ "No. 27720". The London Gazette. 7 October 1904. p. 6439.
- ^ "No. 28166". The London Gazette. 11 August 1908. p. 5894.
- ^ "No. 28265". The London Gazette. 29 June 1909. p. 4953.
- ^ "No. 28345". The London Gazette. 4 March 1910. p. 1593.
- ^ "No. 28349". The London Gazette. 18 March 1910. p. 1958.
- ^ "No. 28544". The London Gazette. 24 October 1911. p. 7700.
- ^ Burke's Peerage. 1914.
External links