Edmund Grey, 1st Earl of Kent
Encyclopedia
Edmund Grey, 1st Earl of Kent (26 October 1416 – 22 May 1490), English administrator, nobleman and magnate, was the son of Sir John Grey
Sir John Grey
Sir John Grey KG , English nobleman and soldier, was the eldest son of Reginald Grey, 3rd Baron Grey de Ruthyn and Margaret Roos. He was a 13th generation descendant of King Stephen of England....

, KG
Order of the Garter
The Most Noble Order of the Garter, founded in 1348, is the highest order of chivalry, or knighthood, existing in England. The order is dedicated to the image and arms of St...

 and Constance Holland. His main residence was at Wrest near Silsoe Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire is a ceremonial county of historic origin in England that forms part of the East of England region.It borders Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Northamptonshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the south-east....

.

Lineage

Through Constance Holland, he was great-grandson of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster
John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster
John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster , KG was a member of the House of Plantagenet, the third surviving son of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault...

, 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
Philippa of Lancaster
Philippa of Lancaster, LG was a Queen consort of Portugal. Born into the royal family of England, her marriage with King John I secured the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance and produced several famous children who became known as the "Illustrious Generation" in Portugal...

.

Grey succeeded his grandfather Reginald Grey, 3rd Baron Grey de Ruthyn
Reginald Grey, 3rd Baron Grey de Ruthyn
Reginald Grey, 3rd Baron Grey de Ruthyn , a powerful Welsh marcher lord, succeeded to the title on his father Reginald's death in July 1388.- Lineage :...

 in 1440.

He married Lady Katherine Percy
Lady Katherine Percy
Lady Katherine Percy was the daughter of Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland and Lady Eleanor Neville.Her maternal grandparents were Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland and his second wife Joan Beaufort, a legitimized daughter of John of Gaunt.She married Edmund Grey, 1st Earl of Kent and...

, also a great-granddaughter of John of Gaunt by his third wife and his heir, their second son, became George Grey, 2nd Earl of Kent
George Grey, 2nd Earl of Kent
George Grey, 2nd Earl of Kent was the son of Edmund Grey, 1st Earl of Kent and Lady Katherine Percy. He was the Second Earl of Kent from 1490 to 1505....

 (d. 15 December 1505).

Knighthood

Edmund Grey was knighted following service in Aquitaine
Aquitaine
Aquitaine , archaic Guyenne/Guienne , is one of the 27 regions of France, in the south-western part of metropolitan France, along the Atlantic Ocean and the Pyrenees mountain range on the border with Spain. It comprises the 5 departments of Dordogne, :Lot et Garonne, :Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Landes...

 in October of 1440. He attended the royal council between 1456 and 1458. Active militarily in the Wars of the Roses
Wars of the Roses
The Wars of the Roses were a series of dynastic civil wars for the throne of England fought between supporters of two rival branches of the royal House of Plantagenet: the houses of Lancaster and York...

, he especially played a decisive rôle in the Battle of Northampton
Battle of Northampton (1460)
The Battle of Northampton was a battle in the Wars of the Roses, which took place on 10 July 1460.-Background:The Yorkist cause seemed finished after the previous disaster at Ludford Bridge...

 by switching his allegiance from the Lancastrian
House of Lancaster
The House of Lancaster was a branch of the royal House of Plantagenet. It was one of the opposing factions involved in the Wars of the Roses, an intermittent civil war which affected England and Wales during the 15th century...

 to the Yorkist
House of York
The House of York was a branch of the English royal House of Plantagenet, three members of which became English kings in the late 15th century. The House of York was descended in the paternal line from Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, the fourth surviving son of Edward III, but also represented...

 cause. For this action he was rewarded by Edward IV
Edward IV of England
Edward IV was King of England from 4 March 1461 until 3 October 1470, and again from 11 April 1471 until his death. He was the first Yorkist King of England...

 with a grant of the manor of Ampthill
Ampthill
Ampthill is a small town and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, between Bedford and Luton, with a population of about 6,000. It is administered by Central Bedfordshire Council. A regular market has taken place on Thursdays for centuries.-History:...

 ownership of which had come into dispute between Grey, Ralph Lord Cromwell
Ralph de Cromwell, 3rd Baron Cromwell
Ralph de Cromwell, 3rd Baron Cromwell was an English politician and diplomat. A Privy Councillor from 1422, he served as Treasurer of England and twice as Chamberlain of the Household during the reign of Henry VI....

 and Henry Holland Duke of Exeter
Henry Holland, 3rd Duke of Exeter
Henry Holland, 3rd Duke of Exeter was a Lancastrian leader during the English Wars of the Roses. He was the only son of John Holland, 2nd Duke of Exeter and his first wife Lady Anne Stafford. His maternal grandparents were Edmund Stafford, 5th Earl of Stafford and Anne of Gloucester.He inherited...

.

Treasurer of England

Edmund Grey's appointment as treasurer of England
Lord High Treasurer
The post of Lord High Treasurer or Lord Treasurer was an English government position and has been a British government position since the Act of Union of 1707. A holder of the post would be the third highest ranked Great Officer of State, below the Lord High Chancellor and above the Lord President...

 was enacted at Westminster on 24 June 1463 but Walter Blount
Walter Blount, 1st Baron Mountjoy
Sir Walter Blount, 1st Baron Mountjoy KG was an English baron and aristocrat.-Early life and family:Walter Blount was born circa 1416, the eldest son of Sir Thomas Blount and Margery Gresley and grandson of Sir Walter Blount.-Career:He was made Steward of the High Peak in Derbyshire and became a...

 succeeded him in November 1464.

Earldom

He was created Earl of Kent
Earl of Kent
The peerage title Earl of Kent has been created eight times in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.See also Kingdom of Kent, Duke of Kent.-Earls of Kent, first creation :*Godwin, Earl of Wessex...

 on 30 May 1465, shortly after the marriage of his eldest son, Anthony, to the king's sister-in-law, Joan 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:
  • Anthony Grey (died in his father's lifetime) married Joan sister of Elizabeth Woodville
    Elizabeth Woodville
    Elizabeth Woodville was Queen consort of England as the spouse of King Edward IV from 1464 until his death in 1483. Elizabeth was a key figure in the series of dynastic civil wars known as the Wars of the Roses. Her first husband, Sir John Grey of Groby was killed at the Second Battle of St Albans...

    , there were no children
  • George Grey, 2nd Earl of Kent
    George Grey, 2nd Earl of Kent
    George Grey, 2nd Earl of Kent was the son of Edmund Grey, 1st Earl of Kent and Lady Katherine Percy. He was the Second Earl of Kent from 1490 to 1505....

    , married Anne Woodville
    Anne Woodville
    Anne Woodville, Viscountess Bourchier was an English noblewoman. She was a younger sister of Queen consort Elizabeth Woodville to whom she served as a lady-in-waiting. Anne was married twice; first to William Bourchier, Viscount Bourchier, and secondly to George Grey, 2nd Earl of Kent...

     then Katherine Herbert
  • Elizabeth Grey married Sir Robert de Greystock
  • Anne Grey married John Grey, 8th Baron Grey of Wilton
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