John (Grey) of Pirgo (bef. 1527 - 1564)

Born before 1527 in Groby, Leicestershire, England

Ancestors

Husband of Mary (Browne) Grey — married 3 Nov 1541 in Essex, England

Descendants

Died 19 Nov 1564 after age 37 in Pirgo, Essex, England

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Biography

This profile is part of the Gray Name Study.

Sir John Grey of Pirgo, Essex (b. c. 1527 Groby, Leics. - d. 19 Nov 1564 Pirgo, Essex; bur. Pirgo),^[1] was the fourth son of Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset and Margaret Wotton.^[2][3] He suc. his brother Thomas in 1555.^[2]

Marriage

John's wife was Mary Browne. She was the daughter of Sir Anthony Browne, K.G., 1st Viscount Montagu (b. 29 Nov 1528 - d. 19 Oct 1592 Horsley, Surrey, bur. Midhurst),^[4][5] who served as Master of the Horse.^[2]

children

According to Fletcher (1879), John and Mary had eight children, including four sons and four daughters.^[2] But Hasler (1981) states that John's only son was Henry.^[5]

• Thomas^[2]
• John^[2]
• Edward, d.y.^[2]
• Sir Henry Grey of Pirgo (b. 1547 - d. 26 Jul 1614, bur. Bradgate), created Lord Grey of Groby on 21 Jul 1603.^[2][5]

m. Anne, dau. of William, 2nd Lord Windsor.^[2][5]

• Frances^[2]

m. Sir Henry Cooke, Knt. of Gidea Hall^[2]

• Elizabeth^[2]

m.1 Henry Denny, Esq.^[1]

m.2 Sir Edward Greville.^[1]

• Anne, d.y.^[2]
• Margaret^[2]

m. Sir Henry Capel, Knt. of Hadham.^[2]

Will

• Date: 17 Nov 1564.^[2]
• Probate: 29 Jan 1565.^[1]

About

Lord John Grey, youngest son of Thomas Grey, second marques of Dorset (1477-1530), was deputy of Newhaven in the reighn of Edward VI. He received considerable grants of land at various times, i.e the rectory of Kirkby Beler, Leicestershire, 1550, and other estates in Leicestershire, Derbyshire, and Nottinghamshire in 1551. These grants were renewed to him and his wife in 1553, and under Mary in 1555, when the site of the monastery of Kirkby Beler was added, together with Bardon Park, Leicestershire, and other lands in 1554. Grey was involved in Wyatt`s rebellion, and he was taken prisoner with his brother, Henry, Duke of Suffolk, in Warwickshire, and brought with him to the tower, 10th February 1554. On the 20th he was first brought to trial, and allowed on account of his gout to ride from the Tower to Westminster, he was again tried on 11th June and condemned to death. He had married Mary, the daughter of Sir Anthony Brown, granddaughter of the Lord Chanberlain, Sir John Gage, and sister to the newly created Viscount Montacute, and owed his life to her painful travail and diligent suit. She obtained a free pardon for him through her relatives influence with Mary, while his two brothers were executed. He was released on 30th October, and lived obscurely under Mary, but with Elizabeth`s accession was appointed one of the noblemen to attend her on her first progress to London, and appeared at court as the head of the Grey family. He presented the Queen with a costly cup of Mother-of-Pearl as a new year gift, but wrote in March to Cecil to beg him to acquaint her with his embarrassed circumstances. On 24th April Elizabeth granted him not only the manors of Higham and Stoke Dennys in Somersetshire, but the more important place of Pirgo in Essex, which hence became his chief residence.^[6]

Birth.

John Grey was the youngest surviving son of Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset, and his wife Margaret Wotton, daughter of Sir Robert Wotton, of Boughton Malherbe, Kent.

Marriage.

John Grey married on 3rd November 1541 at Harrolds Park, Essex. Mary Browne, daughter of Sir Anthony Browne KG by his first wife, Alice née Gage.^[7]

Death.

John Grey died on 19th November 1564 at the family estate at Pirgo, Essex and was buried at the Pirgo family Chapel, at Pirgo in Essex.^[8]

Children.

Lord and Lady (née Mary Browne) John Grey had three sons and four daughters including:

Henry, 1st Baron Grey of Groby who, seated at Pirgo Place, re-established the Grey family presence both at court and at their ancestral domains including Bradgate and Groby in Leicestershire; Lord Grey of Groby's grandson became the 1st Earl of Stamford. Margaret, wife of Sir Arthur Capell, of Hadham and High Sheriff of Hertfordshire in 1592, reputed to have had eleven sons and nine daughters; ancestors of the Barons Capell of Hadham then Earls of Essex. Frances, wife of Sir William Cooke, of Highnam, Gloucestershire, son of Sir Anthony Cooke KB, of Gidea Hall, near Pirgo Place, Essex. Elizabeth, wife of Sir Henry Denny, of Cheshunt, Hertfordshire; ancestors of the Denny baronets. Jane, wife of Sir Edward Greville, of Harold Court, Essex; younger brother of Fulke Greville, 4th Baron Willoughby de Broke.

Notes

MERGES

• 27 March 2011.
• De GREY-161 Jun 20, 2011
• Grey-474 Nov 1, 2011

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} Lewis, M. (2014, February 24). Sir John Grey, Lord Grey #80868, b. circa 1527, d. 19 November 1564. ORTNCA. Web.
2. ↑ ^{2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15} Fletcher, (1887). "Sir Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset, KG," in Leicestershire Pedigrees and Royal Descents, p. 70. Google Books.
3. ↑ Richardson, D. (2011). Magna Carta Ancestry, 2nd ed, p. 307. Google Books.
4. ↑ Bindoff, S.T. (1982). "Browne, Anthony I (1528-92), of Battle Abbey and Cowdray Park, Suss.," in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1509-1558. HOP. Web.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3} Hasler, P.W. (1981). "Grey, Sir Henry (1547-1614), of Pirgo, Essex; later of Groby, Leics.," in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558-1603. HOP. Web.
6. ↑ Dictionary of National Biography, Volumes 1-2 2 for John Grey.
7. ↑ The Peerage #646966
8. ↑ Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : Find A Grave Memorial no. 135821508,

See Also:

• Benolte, Thomas; Philipot, John; & Owen, George. The Visitations of the County of Sussex: 1530 and 1633-4. London: The Harleian Society, 1905. Vol LIII, p 83.
• Wikipedia: Lord John Grey (Tudor nobleman)
• Wikipedia: Pyrgo Park