Henry Grey (17 August 1683 – 9 September 1740) was a British Whig politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

between 1709 and 1740. Grey was born as Henry Neville, the younger son of Richard Neville of

Billingbear House Billingbear House was an English country house situated in the parish of Waltham St. Lawrence in Berkshire, England, about six miles from Windsor. Originally owned by the Bishop of Winchester, the land was given to Sir Henry Neville (father o ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

and his wife Katherine Grey, daughter of Ralph Grey, 2nd Baron Grey of Werke. He travelled abroad in Holland, Germany, Italy and France between 1699 and 1700. In 1707, he changed his surname to Grey by an act of Parliament, ( 6 Ann. c. ''2'' )Deed Poll Office: Private Act of Parliament 1706 (6 Ann.). c. 2
/ref> to inherit the estates of his uncle Ralph Grey, 4th Baron Grey of Werke, in

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

. Grey entered Parliament for

Wendover Wendover is a town and civil parish at the foot of the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire, England. It is situated at the point where the main road across the Chilterns between London and Aylesbury intersects with the once important road along t ...

at a by-election on 21 November 1709, through the influence of his friend

Richard Hampden Richard Hampden (baptized 13 October 1631 – 15 December 1695) was an English Whig politician and son of Ship money tax protester John Hampden. He was sworn a Privy Counsellor in 1689 and was Chancellor of the Exchequer from 18 March 1690 un ...

. He successfully contested this seat at the

1710 British general election The 1710 British general election produced a landslide victory for the Tories. The election came in the wake of the prosecution of Henry Sacheverell, which had led to the collapse of the previous government led by Godolphin and the Whig Junto. ...

, but was defeated when he stood at Orford in the same election. Financial difficulties and attempts to sell his northern estates precluded him from taking an active part in Parliament. He was politically a Whig, and voted against peace with Spain in 1711. He was defeated at

Berwick-upon-Tweed Berwick-upon-Tweed (), sometimes known as Berwick-on-Tweed or simply Berwick, is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, and the northernmost town in England. The 2011 United Kingdom census recor ...

at the

1713 British general election The 1713 British general election was held on 22 August 1713 to 12 November 1713, to elect members of the House of Commons, the lower house of the Parliament of Great Britain. It produced further gains for the governing Tory party. Since 1710 R ...

, despite the Grey interest in that town, and at a by-election at Wallingford in 1714. Grey returned to Parliament as MP for Wallingford at a by-election on 1 December 1719. At the

1722 British general election The 1722 British general election elected members to serve in the House of Commons of the 6th Parliament of Great Britain. This was the fifth such election since the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. Tha ...

he was defeated at

, but was returned at a by-election on 11 March 1723 for Berwick-upon-Tweed, where his brother Grey Neville held the other seat. When his brother died later in 1723, he inherited his brother's estate of Billingbear House. He was returned at the

1734 British general election The 1734 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of Great Britain, House of Commons of the 8th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scot ...

for

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

. Grey married Elizabeth Griffin, daughter of

James Griffin, 2nd Baron Griffin of Braybrooke James may refer to: People * James (given name) * James (surname) * James (musician), aka Faruq Mahfuz Anam James, (born 1964), Bollywood musician * James, brother of Jesus * King James (disambiguation), various kings named James * Prince Ja ...

in 1720, but they had no children. He died on 9 September 1740.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grey, Henry 1683 births 1740 deaths British MPs 1708–1710 British MPs 1710–1713 British MPs 1715–1722 British MPs 1722–1727 British MPs 1734–1741 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies Whig (British political party) MPs for English constituencies

Henry Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...

People from Waltham St Lawrence