Through the main entrance directly on the left high on the wall.
THE HONble SIR GEORGE GREY
BARONET, K.C.B.
THIRD SON OF CHARLES FIRST EARL GREY
TWENTY-TWO YEARS COMMISSIONER
OF HIS MAJESTY'S DOCK YARD AT THIS PORT.
HE DEPARTED THIS LIFE
IN THE FAITH AND HOPE OF THE GOSPEL.
AFTER A PAINFUL AND PROTRACTED ILLNESS.
WHICH HE BORE
WITH EXEMPLARY CHRISTIAN PATIENCE
AND RESIGNATION.
BORN OCTOBER 10th 1767
DIED OCTOBER 3rd 1828.
THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH BUT THE GIFT OF GOD
IS ETERNAL LIFE THROUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD.
ROM.VI.23.
Further Information
The following biographical details were supplied by Julia Gange, great-great-great-granddaughter of Sir George Grey
Hon. Sir George Grey, Captain R.N., 1st Baronet Falloden, K.C.B.
Born: 10th October 1767 at Falloden, Northumberland - 3rd son of General Sir Charles Grey, 1st Earl Grey of Howick and his wife Eleanor Grey of Southwick.
- 1781 - Made Lieutenant, aged 14, and served in West Indies and home waters
- 1782 - Lieutenant of HMS Resolution in Rodney's action, which was captured by the French.
- 7 Aug 1790 - Promoted to Captain of HMS Vesuvius
- 1793 - Served aboard HMS Quebec and later promoted to Flag Captain of HMS Boyne under Vice Admiral Jervis. The combined forces, commanded jointly by Admiral Jervis and Grey's father, General Charles Grey, captured the French colonies of Martinique, Guadeloupe and Saint Lucia.
- 1 May 1795 HMS Boyne lost through fire off Spithead with the loss of 11 lives. Captain Grey was acquitted at his court marshall as he had been attending another court marshall with Admiral Jervis in Portsmouth at the time of the fire.
- 1795 - 2nd Captain, with Captain Calder on Admiral Jervis' flag ship HMS Victory at Battle of Cape St Vincent.
- Aug 1797 Command of HMS Ville de Paris (1797-8 and May 1800-Feb 1801)
- Apr 1801 - 1804 Command of Royal Yachts
- 1804-1806 Commissioner of Sheerness Dockyard : Following from 'The royal navy, a history from the earliest times'
..The Victory remained off the Isle of Wight until the 10th. On the 22nd, being then at the mouth of the Thames, she was boarded by the Chatham, the official yacht of Captain the Hon. George Grey, then Commissioner at Sheerness. To this little craft was solemnly transferred the corpse, enclosed in the coffin which had been made, by order of Captain Benjamin Hallowell, out of part of the mainmast of the Orient, after the battle of the Nile, and which had been presented to Nelson on May 23rd 1799. A second coffin, of lead, covered the whole. As the body was lowered into the yacht, the Vice-Admiral's flag was struck in the Victory, and hoisted at half-mast in the Chatham, which presently passed up the river to Greenwich, where she anchored on the afternoon of December 24th. At 7 p.m. that evening the coffin was conveyed to Greenwich Hospital, where it afterwards lay in state. On January 8th, with great and impressive ceremony, it was taken in a state barge, rowed by sixteen seamen of the Victory, to Whitehall stairs, where it was landed, and whence it was carried to the Captains' Room of the Admiralty. - 1806-1828 Commissioner of Portsmouth Dockyard
- 1814 Created 1st Baronet of Falloden
- 20 May 1820 Presented K.C.B. by the King after he had hosted a Royal visit of the dockyard.
- 3 October 1828 Died. The Hampshire Telegraph reported his funeral on 13 October 1828:
"The remains of the Hon. Sir Geo. Grey, Bart. were this morning deposited in the Chapel of this Garrison, the Burial Service being performed by Rev. W.S. Dusauloy... The pall was borne by Admiral the Hon. Sir Robert Stopford, Vice-Admiral Sir Harry Burrard-Neale, Rear-Admiral Gifford, Major-General Sir Colin Campbell and Captains Loring and Chetham. the principal Officers in his Majesty's Dockyard in mourning coaches, and several hundred of the shipwrights and other artificers of the yard, on foot, followed. On the Grand Parade, a passage to prevent interruption, was formed by the military and the whole was conducted in the most solemn and impressive manner..."
Sir George married Mary Whitbread, daughter of Samuel Whitbread (brewer) on 10 June 1795 and they had the following children:
- Mary Grey 1796-1863 married Capt. Thomas Monck-Mason
- Rt. Hon Sir George Grey 1799-1882 sometimes Home Secretary between years of 1846 and 1866
- Elizabeth Grey 1800-1819 married Charles Noel, 1st. Earl Gainsborough
- Harriet Grey 1802-1889 married Revd. John Jenkinson
- Hannah Jean Grey 1803-1829 married Revd. Sir Henry Thompson, son of Admiral Sir Charles Thompson
- Jane Grey 1804-1838 married Francis Thornhill Baring, Baron Northbrook.
- Charlotte Grey 1805-1814
- Charles Samuel Grey 1811-1860 married Laura Elton and Margaret Hunder, Paymaster in Civil Service in Ireland.
Charles, the first Earl Grey, was a General in the Seven Year War against France and during the American War of Independence. He was commonly known as 'no-flint Grey' for his unconventional tactics. He eventually rose to the rank of Commander in Chief of the British troops in America, and in 1793/4 to Commander in Chief of the West Indian Expedition alongside Admiral Jervis during the French Revolutionary Wars. He was enobled as Baron Grey in 1801 and as Earl Grey and Viscount Howick in 1806, dying the following year.
His eldest son, Charles 2nd Earl Grey, was Prime Minister 22 Nov 1830 – 16 Jul 1834. He was an ancestor of Diana, Princess of Wales. Earl Grey tea was named after him.
The entry for Charles the first Earl Grey in the Dictionary of National Biography mentions his son Charles but not George. It also mentions that he was in command of the Southern District (which included Portsmouth) between 1796 and 1800, preparing for a defence of the area against French attack.
See Also
- Wikipedia entry for Sir George Grey
- History In Portsmouth
