Name Edmund 1st | ||
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Died May 22, 1490, Bitton, United Kingdom Spouse Lady Katherine Percy (m. 1440) Children George Grey, 2nd Earl of Kent, Mary Grey, Anne Grey, Lady Elizabeth Grey, Edmund Grey, Anthony Grey, John Grey Parents John Grey, Constance Holland Grandparents Elizabeth of Lancaster, Duchess of Exeter | ||
Edmund Grey, 1st Earl of Kent (26 October 1416 – 22 May 1490), English administrator, nobleman and magnate, was the son of Sir John Grey, KG and Constance Holland. His main residence was at Wrest near Silsoe, Bedfordshire.
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Lineage
Through Constance Holland, he was great-grandson of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, the third son of King Edward III of England, by his first wife, and thus grand-nephew of King Henry IV of England and Philippa of Lancaster.
Grey succeeded his grandfather Reginald Grey, 3rd Baron Grey de Ruthyn in 1440.
He married Lady Katherine Percy, who was also a great-granddaughter of John of Gaunt by his third wife, Katherine Swynford, and also a descendant of King Edward III of England through his second son, Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence. After the death of their first son, the second, George, became his heir and eventually George Grey, 2nd Earl of Kent (d. 15 December 1505).
Knighthood
Edmund Grey was knighted following service in Aquitaine in October 1440. He attended the royal council between 1456 and 1458. Active militarily in the Wars of the Roses, he especially played a decisive role in the Battle of Northampton by switching his allegiance from the Lancastrian to the Yorkist cause. For this action he was rewarded by Edward IV with a grant of the manor of Ampthill ownership of which had come into dispute between Grey, Ralph Lord Cromwell and Henry Holland Duke of Exeter.
Treasurer of England
Edmund Grey's appointment as treasurer of England was enacted at Westminster on 24 June 1463 but Walter Blount succeeded him in November 1464.
Earldom
He was created Earl of Kent on 30 May 1465, shortly after the marriage of his eldest son, Anthony, to the king's sister-in-law, Joan Woodville(she is sometimes known as Eleanor Woodville) He was then appointed chief justice of the county of Meryonnyth, North Wales and constable of Harlech.
Posterity
His children by Katherine Percy included: