Sir George Grey: Biography from Answers.com

(b. London, 25 Apr. 1862; d. 7 Sept. 1933) British; Foreign Secretary 1905 – 16; Bt. 1882, Viscount 1916 The son of an army officer, Grey was educated at Winchester and Balliol College, Oxford, from which he was sent down. At the age of 23 he was elected Liberal MP for Berwick-on-Tweed, and retained the seat until his elevation to the peerage.

As a result of the Conservatives' monopoly of office for the previous two decades, Grey had had only three years' junior ministerial experience (1892 – 5) when Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman appointed him Foreign Secretary in 1905. His subsequent eleven consecutive years' occupancy of the post has not since been equalled.

Grey occupied the Foreign Office at a crucial period and his record was controversial. Even the circumstances of his appointment were curious. Differences within the Liberal Party in opposition had led Grey, H. H. Asquith, and R. B. Haldane to agree (in the so-called "Relugas Compact") to accept office under Campbell-Bannerman only if he undertook to go to the House of Lords and to leave Asquith as leader in the Commons. When Campbell-Bannerman rejected these terms, Grey delayed the formation of the government for several days — despite the obvious risk to party unity this action presented.

Criticism of Grey's foreign secretaryship has focused upon his concealment of the true nature of the understandings reached with France before the First World War and the terms of a secret treaty he made with Italy in 1915. In the former case, neither the public, nor even the full Cabinet, was made aware that the logical implication of the arrangements arrived at was British military support for France in the event of war between the latter and Germany. Indeed, Grey maintained that Britain retained complete freedom of action in the event of the outbreak of such hostilities. Concerning Italy, Grey agreed that it should be ceded substantial rights in Dalmatia in return for declaring war on Germany. Earlier, his negotiation of the 1907 Anglo-Russian agreement over spheres of influence in Asia had had a hostile reception — not least from Liberal backbenchers, many of whom considered his policies too close to the "imperialism" of the previous Conservative government.

Many of Grey's endeavours were, however, widely praised. He had a leading role in improving conditions in the Belgian Congo, where the treatment of the indigenous population under the rule of the King of Belgium had become an international scandal. He also played a vital part in averting the outbreak of hostilities between France and Germany over the Agadir crisis in 1911 and in helping to prepare the ground for the USA's entry into the war against Germany.

Grey undertook some public functions after his departure from office when David Lloyd George succeeded Asquith as Prime Minister in December 1916. The most notable of these was his unsuccessful attempt, in 1919 (on the government's behalf), to persuade the USA to join the League of Nations. But his eyesight deteriorated badly and his political activities had become minimal well before his death.

Sir George Grey (1812-1898) was a controversial British explorer and colonial governor. A trouble shooter in South Australia, in New Zealand, and in the Cape Colony, he was a liberal opportunist who expected more egalitarian societies to evolve in new colonial environments.

George Grey was born on April 14, 1812, in Lisbon, educated at Sandhurst, and after 1830 served in Ireland. Following Charles Sturt's exploration of the Murray River system, he obtained support from the Royal Geographical Society for an expedition to Western Australia to find a river leading into the interior. He landed at Hanover Bay in 1837 and explored the Kimberley district. In 1839 he entered Shark Bay and discovered the Gascoyne River. After losing its stores, the party made an arduous trip south to Perth. The expedition discovered little apart from aboriginal cave paintings.

In 1841 Grey was appointed governor of South Australia when the new colony suffered from economic depression. By a vigorous policy of retrenchment he forced settlers onto the land and recovery followed. By 1844 the colony no longer depended on annual grants from the British government, and the Colonial Office was so impressed that Grey was sent to New Zealand, another new colony on the brink of ruin.

After defeating rebellious Maori chiefs, Grey embarked on a policy of assimilation and controlled land sales. Land-hungry settlers objected, and when Grey persuaded the Colonial Office to defer the introduction of representative self-government, he was accused of despotism. In 1852 Grey introduced a federal constitution in which the governor retained responsibility for native policy and land sales.

From 1854 to 1861 Grey, who had been knighted in 1848, was governor of the Cape Colony and high commissioner for South Africa. In addition to preventing a Kaffir rebellion, he acted as arbitrator between the Free State Boers, who wanted more land, and their Basuto neighbors. For advocating confederation as the best way to secure peace and cheap government in South Africa, Grey was recalled. Later reinstated, he was sent back to New Zealand in 1861, following a Maori uprising.

This time Maori nationalism undermined Grey's efforts at conciliation, and he failed to pacify the natives. During a period of open warfare from 1863 to 1866, Grey assumed personal command at Weroroa. Because of their land policies Grey could not work harmoniously with local politicians, and he was dismissed in 1868 for insisting that British troops remain in the colony.

Grey returned to New Zealand as a private citizen in 1870. From 1874 to 1894 he was a member of the House of Representatives, and as premier in 1877-1879, he introduced a radical program which failed to gain sufficient party support. Some of Grey's objectives - manhood suffrage, triennial parliaments, and government purchase of large estates - were later realized. In 1891, as a New Zealand delegate to the Australian Federal Convention in Sydney, he advocated a "one man, one vote" policy. He returned to England in 1894 and became a privy councilor. His works on Maori language and customs brought him repute as a scholar. He died on Sept. 19, 1898.

Further Reading

The biography by George C. Henderson, Sir George Grey: Pioneer of Empire in Southern Lands (1907), portrays Grey as a successful colonial governor motivated by radical ideals. In a more comprehensive and critical assessment of this enigmatic character, James Rutherford, Sir George Grey, K. C. B., 1812-1898: A Study in Colonial Government (1961), shows how Grey's belief in human perfectibility and his inflexibility prevented him from moving with the times and achieving worthwhile results. See also James Collier, Sir George Grey, Governor, High Commissioner, and Premier: An Historical Biography (1909).

(born April 25, 1862, London, Eng. — died Sept. 7, 1933, Fallodon, near Embleton, Northumberland) British statesman. A relative of Earl Grey, he entered Parliament as a Liberal (1885) and became foreign secretary in 1905. During the Moroccan crises (1905, 1911), he supported France against Germany, but with equivocations that caused diplomatic confusion. After the assassination of Francis Ferdinand (1914), Grey proposed that Austria-Hungary obtain satisfaction from Serbia by occupying Belgrade. When all peace moves failed, he maneuvered a divided British cabinet into World War I, about which he commented, "The lamps are going out all over Europe; we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime." He was responsible for the secret Treaty of London (1915).

For more information on Sir Edward 3rd Baronet Grey, visit Britannica.com.

Grey, Sir Edward (1862-1933). Foreign secretary. Grey has been described as curiously ‘suspended between the world of high politics and rural isolation’, a man who sought refuge from the toils of office in fishing and ornithology. Behind the reserve lay a very determined and tough politician. He was among those Liberals who supported the Boer War, and was involved in the attempt to compel Campbell-Bannerman to move to the Lords on becoming prime minister in 1905. But it was as foreign secretary (December 1905-December 1916, the longest continuous tenure of that office) that he has attracted the interest of historians.

He gained his first experience in the Foreign Office under Lord Rosebery in the mid-1890s. As foreign secretary himself Grey quickly dispelled fears that a Liberal government might weaken Britain's role in the world. In the Moroccan crisis with Germany (1905-6), he went further than his predecessor by agreeing to precautionary military staff talks with France. He also overcame the doubts of some cabinet colleagues to push through the entente of 1907 with Russia.

As Europe stumbled towards war in July 1914 cabinet divisions prevented Grey from unambiguously signalling that Britain would fight in defence of France. Grey himself threatened to resign rather than abandon France, but it was German infringement of Belgian neutrality which ensured that most of the cabinet opted for war on 4 August.

1812–98, British colonial administrator. He explored the Swan River district in NW Australia (1838) and later was governor of South Australia (1841–45) and of New Zealand (1845–53). As governor of Cape Colony (1854–60), he advocated federation for the South African territories. When war broke out between Maori natives and English settlers, Grey returned to New Zealand as governor (1861–68), but his efforts to end the fighting were fruitless. After brief residence in London he returned to live in New Zealand, where as premier (1877–79) he advocated important social reforms. Polynesian Mythology (1855) is his most important book.

Bibliography

See biography by J. Rutherford (1961).