Charles Gray was born 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 is still popular today and bears the name of its creator "Earl Grey".
Early years
Charles Gray is a descendant of an ancient English family that settled in Northumberland. He was the second son of General Gray 1st and his wife Elizabeth. The earl's eldest 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, the most prestigious colleges in Britain. The curriculum included mandatory recitations in English and Latin, allowing the future Prime Minister to develop his talent and become one of the greatest orators of his generation.
Private life
At the age of 30, Charles Gray married Baroness Mary Elizabeth Ponsonby. couple16 children were born, ten boys and six girls. Since his wife was pregnant most of the time, the count traveled alone and had many affairs with other women. Before marrying Mary, Charles had a long relationship with a noble married lady named Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire.
The 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 he althy baby girl, who was named Eliza Courtenay. 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 for Northumberland and soon became one of the leaders of the Whig party. He was the youngest leader of a political movement, and historian Thomas Babington Macaulay wrote of him: "While most of his peers were still competing for cups and scholarships, he won a prominent seat for himself in Parliament. Without any advantages or connections, only magnificent talents and impeccable honor allowed to rise to this height."
Grey was a fierce proponent of Catholic emancipation and was active in promoting parliamentary reform. He fought for equal rights for representatives of the Anglican Church and Catholics, who at that time were forbidden to hold public office. In 1830 the Whig party came topower, and the earl 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 500,000 to 813,000 people. In 1833, a law was passed to abolish slavery.
However, after a few 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 issue of subjugation of Ireland became a stumbling block, and in 1834 the prime minister resigned. Colleagues quipped that he threatened to do so with every failure, but unlike most politicians, Earl Gray sincerely preferred a quiet private life and was glad to retire.
Interesting facts
Earl Grey, a tea with bergamot, was named after the Earl. Some researchers of the politician's biography believe that Charles first tasted tea with a bergamot crust during a trip to China and fell in love with 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 a large amount of lime in the local water. The guests of the estate liked the unusual taste so much that the drink recipe became popular in many noble families of Great Britain. In order not to be confused, they called it: "Earl Grey's tea".
In an anime called "Darkbutler "Charles Gray is one of the secondary characters. This is a short, slender 16-year-old boy with blond hair. According to the plot, he comes from an ancient illustrious family, after which Earl Gray tea was named.
The last years Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, lived in his family estate in contentment and peace. He spent most of his time with his family, books and dogs. His days passed measuredly and pleasantly, 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 died peacefully in his bed on July 17, 1845.
