Name Thomas 1st | Siblings Richard Grey | |
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Title 1st Marquess of Dorset1st Earl of Huntingdon7th Baron Ferrers of Groby Children Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset Parents John Grey of Groby, Elizabeth Woodville Similar People John Grey of Groby, Elizabeth Woodville, Cecily Bonville - 7th Baron, Anthony Woodville - 2nd Earl, Henry Grey - 1st Duke of S | ||
Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset, 1st Earl of Huntingdon and 7th Baron Ferrers of Groby (1455 – 20 September 1501), was an English nobleman, courtier and the eldest son of Elizabeth Woodville and her first husband Sir John Grey of Groby. Her second marriage to King Edward IV made her Queen of England, thus elevating Grey's status at court and in the realm as the stepson of the King. Through his mother's assiduous endeavours, he made two materially advantageous marriages to wealthy heiresses, the King's niece Anne Holland and Cecily Bonville, 7th Baroness Harington. By the latter he had 14 children.
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Family
Thomas Grey was born in 1455 close to Westminster on the north bank of the Thames. He was the elder son of Sir John Grey and his wife Elizabeth Woodville, who later became queen consort to Edward IV of England. His younger full brother, Sir Richard Grey (1457-1483), was arrested by Richard, Duke of Gloucester on 30 April 1483, after being accused of plotting to take the throne. Gloucester's forces later executed Richard Grey at Pontefract Castle. The Grey brothers had ten half-siblings by their mother's marriage to Edward IV.
Career
His mother endeavoured to improve his estates by the conventional methods of their class and time, through his marriages and purchase of wardships.
On the death of his stepfather, Edward IV, and his 12-year-old half-brother, Edward V's, accession to the throne on 9 April 1483, Grey proved unable to maintain his family's position. It was not possible to arrange a Woodville regency. Internal fighting, particularly the long-established battle for ascendancy in Leicestershire between the Grey and Hastings families, now on the national stage, allowed Gloucester to seize power and usurp the throne. On 25 June 1483, an assembly of Parliament declared Richard III to be the legitimate king, and Thomas's uncle and brother, Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers and Richard Grey respectively, were executed. Later in the summer, learning of the apparent murder of both his young half-brothers, Grey joined the Duke of Buckingham's rebellion against Richard III. When the rebellion failed he fled to Brittany to join Henry Tudor, the future Henry VII, who pledged to marry Grey's half-sister Elizabeth of York and heal the Yorkist/Lancastrian division.
However, just before Henry and the Lancastrian army left to launch their ultimately successful invasion of England in August 1485, Grey heard rumours from England that his mother had come to terms with Richard III, and he was persuaded to desert Henry Tudor. He was intercepted at Compiègne on his way to England, and played no part in the invasion or subsequent overthrow of Richard III. Grey was instead confined to Paris, as security for the repayment of a loan made to Henry Tudor by the French government, unable to return home until Henry VII was safely installed as king of England.
Thereafter Henry VII took good care to keep his Queen's half-brother under control and Grey was not permitted to recover his former influence. Thomas Grey was confined in the Tower in 1487 during Lambert Simnel's rising and not released until after the House of Tudor victory in the Battle of Stoke Field. Though he accompanied the King on his expedition to France in 1492, he was obliged to commit himself in writing to ensure he did not commit treason. He was permitted to assist in suppression of the Cornish rising in 1497.
Thomas Grey, Marquess of Dorset, died in London on 20 September 1501, aged about 48, and was buried in the collegiate church of Astley, Warwickshire. His wife survived him and married Grey's cousin, Henry Stafford, later Earl of Wiltshire.
Marriages and issue
His mother sought to make provision for him by marriage to wealthy heiresses. He married firstly, at Greenwich in October 1466, Lady Anne Holland (1461-c.1474), the only daughter of Henry Holland, 3rd Duke of Exeter, and Anne of York. His mother-in-law was the second child and eldest surviving daughter of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, and Cecily Neville, thus sister to his mother's second husband King Edward IV.
After Anne Holland died young without issue, Thomas married secondly, by papal dispensation 5 September 1474, Cecily Bonville, 7th Baroness Harington of Aldingham and 2nd Baroness Bonville, the wealthiest heiress in England. Cecily Bonville, born in 1461, was the daughter and heiress of William Bonville, 6th Baron Harington, by his wife Katherine Neville, daughter of Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury. Katherine was sister to the late Earl of Warwick and thus aunt to his daughters.
By his second wife Grey had seven sons and seven daughters:
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Depictions in fiction
Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset, is depicted in Shakespeare’sRichard III.