Richard Grey
Sir Richard Grey (1457 – 25 June 1483) was an English knight and the half-brother of King Edward V of England.[1]
Early life
Richard Grey was the younger son of Sir
Knighthood
Grey was
Career as constable
In 1479, he was appointed constable of Chester Castle and in the same year was considered important enough for the city of Bristol to appeal to him for his aid. He served on a number of other judicial commissions in the region through the remainder of the reign of his stepfather. In 1482, he was granted the Welsh lordship of Kidwelly,[1] and in the same year was given a greater role in the upbringing of the Prince of Wales. Grey had become a very important person in Edward IV's rule in Wales and the bordering English counties. Grey was also being given a broader geographic field of activity, serving as constable of Wallingford Castle from 1482 and the following year being granted the Holland manors in Essex and Northamptonshire.[1]
Imprisonment and execution
On the death of Edward IV, on 9 April 1483, Grey's half-brother became King Edward V. On 30 April 1483, while accompanying Edward V to London from Wales with their uncle Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers, Grey was arrested by Richard, Duke of Gloucester (later Richard III) at Stony Stratford and, with Rivers, imprisoned in the north of England.[2]
Within a few weeks, Grey's lands and offices had been redistributed to others, even though he had not legally been deprived of them.[citation needed]
After Edward V was declared illegitimate, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, acceded to the throne as Richard III. Grey and his uncle were then executed at Pontefract Castle on 25 June 1483.[1] Richard Grey was aged around 26 at the time of his execution.
Notes
References
- Horrox, Rosemary (2004), "Grey, Sir Richard (d. 1483)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, retrieved 30 August 2010