William Grey, 13th Baron Grey de Wilton
William Grey | |
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| 13th National Gallery of Scotland | |
| Baron Grey de Wilton | |
| Coat of arms |  |
| Tenure | 1520 – 14 December 1562 |
| Predecessor | Richard Grey, 12th Baron Grey de Wilton |
| Successor | Arthur Grey, 14th Baron Grey de Wilton |
| Born | 1508/9 Wilton Castle, Hertfordshire, England |
| Died | 14 December 1562 Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, England |
| Family | Grey |
| Spouse(s) | Lady Mary Somerset of Worcester |
| Issue | Arthur Grey, 14th Baron Grey de Wilton Honora Grey-Denny William Grey |
| Father | Edmund Grey, 9th Baron Grey de Wilton |
| Mother | Florence Hastings |
William Grey, 13th Baron Grey de Wilton
Early life
Grey was the thirteenth
Service in France, 1544–1547
During the
Military service in Scotland
In the first year of
In this battle [Grey] receaved a greate wounde in the mouthe with a pyke, sutche as clave one of his teethe, strake hym thowroghe the tongue, and three fyngers deepe into the rouff of his mouthe: yet notwithstondyng hee poursued owte the chase, wheryn, whot with the aboundance of blood, heate of the weather, and dust of the press, hee had surely been suffocated had not the Duke of Northehumberland, then earle of Warwyck, lyghted and lyfted a fyrcken of ale too hys head, as they passed thowroughe the Scottische camp
— Arthur, Lord Grey, Commentaries
Grey recovered, and twelve days later (22 September) was appointed to complete the delivery of
"The commotion time"
There were disturbances throughout England during the summer of 1549, a period that came to be known as "the commotion time." In July 1549, Grey was despatched at the head of fifteen hundred horse and foot into
Politics during the succession
In 1551 Grey was held in
Service in France, 1553–1558
A few days after his submission Grey received a commission to array 350 footmen and fifty demi-lancers in the counties of Middlesex and Kent, and the city of London, for the garrison of Guînes. When war was formally declared by the French in 1557, Guînes was so poorly garrisoned that Grey reported that unless he was reinforced he was at the mercy of the enemy. A small detachment was sent over; but although Grey had more than a thousand men, a part only of these were English, the rest being Burgundians and Spanish. By the middle of winter moreover, there was a scarcity of food at Guînes and Calais. On 1 December Grey announced a successful expedition for the destruction of a French detachment. 'The commander of Guînes was a fierce, stern man,' says Froude, 'and his blood being hot he blew up the church of Bushing, with the steeple thereof, and all the French soldiers entrenched there perished.' A formidable French force having appeared at Abbeville on 22 December, Grey and Wentworth wrote an urgent joint letter to the queen. Orders were at length given for reinforcements, but these were countermanded on a mistaken report that the alarm was ill-founded. The French appeared under the walls of Guînes on the 31st; Calais was invested on 1 January 1557–8.
Grey made a brave effort to save Guînes. On the night of the 4th, he sent a letter urgently begging for reinforcements, but Calais fell on 6 January. All the English counties were thereupon called on by proclamation to contribute their musters. Thirty thousand men were rapidly on their way to the coast, and on the 10th came the queen's command for the army to cross to Dunkirk, join the Duke of Savoy, and save Guînes. But severe weather was experienced in the Channel, and the fleet was either destroyed or dispersed. Meanwhile, Guînes was left to its fate. Grey, with his eleven hundred men, abandoned the town, burnt the houses, and withdrew into the castle. The French, under the Duke of Guise, bombarded the place, and on the third day (19 January) attempted a storm. Grey was wounded by accidentally treading on a sword, and the first line of defence was taken. His soldiers refused to fight longer, and Grey was soon forced to surrender.
The Duke of Guise transferred Grey to Marshal
Warden of the Marches
In December 1559 Grey was constituted governor of Berwick,
The
Retirement and death
In December 1560 Grey hosted Scottish ambassadors at Berwick and gave the
Family
In about 1535, Grey married Lady Mary Somerset of Worcester,[5] the daughter of Charles Somerset, 1st Earl of Worcester by his second wife, Elizabeth West.[6] They had three children:
- Arthur Grey, 14th Baron Grey de Wilton (1536–1593), who married, firstly, Dorothy la Zouche, illegitimate daughter of Richard la Zouche, 9th Baron Zouche of Haryngworth. He married secondly, Jane Morrison, daughter of Sir Richard Morrison, and the widow of Edward Russell.[7]
- Honora Grey (1540 - 28 August 1569), married Henry Denny, Dean of Chester (d. 24 March 1574), son of Sir Anthony Denny. Their son was Edward Denny, 1st Earl of Norwich.[8]
- William Grey, who Married Rebecca Shaw, daughter of Richard Shaw and Elizabeth Cavendish, who in turn, was niece of Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, and cousin of Lady Jane Grey. They had a son called Richard Grey.
Notes
- ^ His three brothers, the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth barons, died in their minority.
- ^ Lock 2008.
- ^ Richardson 2011, pp. 350–351.
- ^ (Smith 1890)
- ^ Joseph Bain, Calendar State Papers Scotland: 1547-1563, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1898), p. 504.
- ^ Cokayne 1982, pp. 183–186.
- ^ Mosley 2003, Volume II, p. 1665.
- ^ Cokayne 1982, pp. 186–187.
- ^ Mosley 2003, Volume I, p. 1094.
Bibliography
- Cokayne, George Edward (1982). The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, Vol, VI. Gloucester: A. Sutton. ISBN 0-904387-82-8.
- Grey, Arthur (1847). Philip de Malpas Grey Egerton (ed.). A commentary of the services and charges of William Lord Grey of Wilton, by his son Arthur Grey. London: Camden Society.
- Lock, Julian (January 2008) [September 2004]. "Grey, William, thirteenth Baron Grey of Wilton (1508/9–1562)". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/11568. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- Mosley, Charles, ed. (2003). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage (107th ed.). Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books). 3 volumes
- Richardson, Douglas (2011). Everingham, Kimball G. (ed.). Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, Vol, IV (2nd ed.). Salt Lake City, UT: Douglas Richardson. ISBN 978-1460992708. Retrieved 8 October 2013.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, George Barnett (1890). "Grey, William (d.1562)". In Stephen, Leslie; Lee, Sidney (eds.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 23. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 213, 215.
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