Charles Gray was born on March 13, 1764 in England. For four years, from 1830 to 1834, he served as prime minister and managed to achieve significant success. During his reign, electoral reform was adopted and slavery was abolished. His favorite tea variety is still popular today and bears the name of its creator Earl Gray.
early years
Charles Gray is a descendant of an ancient English family who settled in Northumberland. He was the second son of General Gray 1st and his wife Elizabeth. The earl's oldest son died in infancy, so it was Charles who was destined to inherit the title. In addition to him, the family had six more children: four boys and two girls. The earl’s heir received his primary education at Richmond School, and then continued to study at Eton and Trinity, Britain’s most prestigious colleges. The training program included mandatory declarations in English and Latin, which allowed the future prime minister to develop his talent and become one of the greatest speakers of his generation.
Personal life
At the age of 30, Charles Gray married Baroness Mary Elizabeth Ponsonby. The couple had 16 children, ten boys and six girls. Since his wife was pregnant most of the time, the Count traveled alone and made many novels with other women. Before marrying Mary, Charles had a long relationship with a noble married lady named Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire.
Young people met in the late 1780s, and in 1791 the girl became pregnant. Charles asked Georgiana to leave her husband, but the duke threatened that in this case she would never see her children. Georgiana was sent to France, and on February 20, 1792 she gave birth to a beautiful healthy girl, who was named Eliza Courtney. The baby was given to Gray's parents, who raised her as their own daughter.
Political career
At the age of 22, Earl Charles Gray was elected to Parliament from Northumberland County and soon became one of the Whig party leaders. He was the youngest leader of the political movement, and historian Thomas Babington Macaulay wrote about him: “While most peers still fought for cups and scholarships, he won a prominent place in parliament. Without any advantages or connections, only magnificent talents and impeccable honor allowed to rise to this height. "
Gray was a fierce champion of Catholic emancipation and actively promoted parliamentary reform. He fought for the equal rights of representatives of the Church of England and Catholics, who at that time were forbidden to hold public office. In 1830, the Whig party came to power, and the count took over as prime minister of Great Britain. During his reign, the Electoral Reform of 1832 was adopted, which provided large cities with representation in parliament and increased the number of voters from 500 thousand to 813 thousand people. In 1833, a law was passed on the abolition of slavery.
However, after several years, Charles Gray became more conservative and began to be cautious about other large-scale reforms, because the king was reluctant to support such initiatives. The question of the subordination of Ireland became a stumbling block, and in 1834 the prime minister resigned. Colleagues sarcastically noticed that he threatened to do this at every failure, but unlike most politicians, Count Gray sincerely preferred a quiet privacy and was glad to retire.
Interesting Facts
In honor of the count was named a grade of tea with bergamot - Earl Gray. Some researchers in the biography of the politician believe that Charles first tasted tea with a bergamot crust during a trip to China and loved this taste so much that he brought a huge supply of this drink to England. According to another legend, the count liked to drink tea with the addition of bergamot to compensate for the presence of large amounts of lime in local water. Guests of the estate liked the unusual taste so much that the drink recipe became popular among many noble families in Great Britain. In order not to get confused, they called him that: "Count Gray's tea."
In an anime called The Dark Butler, Charles Gray is one of the minor characters. This is a short, slender 16-year-old boy with blond hair. According to the plot, he comes from an ancient illustrious family in whose name Earl Gray tea was named .
In his last years, Charles Gray, 2nd Earl of Gray, lived in his family estate in contentment and peace. He spent most of his time with his family, books, and dogs. His days were measured and pleasant, and only one tragedy overshadowed a prosperous old age - the death of his beloved grandson Charles, who died at the age of 13. In recent years, the count became physically weak and quietly died in his bed on July 17, 1845.