Harry Grey, 3rd Earl of Stamford

Who was Harry Grey, 3rd Earl of Stamford?

Harry Grey, 3rd Earl of Stamford was an English peer. He was somewhat eccentric, displaying this mainly in the construction of whimsical buildings.

Harry Grey was born the eldest son of John Grey, younger son of the 1st Earl of Stamford and inherited the earldom on the death of his first cousin Thomas Grey, 2nd Earl of Stamford in 1720. He married on 6 July 1704 Dorothy Wright, the daughter of Sir Nathan Wright, 2nd Baronet and had seven children:

Harry Grey, 4th Earl of Stamford

Hon. John Grey

Lady Dorothy Grey

Lady Catherine Grey, married in July 1735 John William van Trip, married in 1740 Gillis van den Bempden, both officials of Amsterdam

Lady Diana Grey, married in September 1736 George Middleton of Seaton and Fettercairn

Lady Anne Grey, married in October 1744 Sir Richard Acton, 5th Baronet

Lady Jane Grey, married in June 1738 George Drummond, 3rd of Blair Drummond

He inherited in 1709 the estate at Enville in Staffordshire from a distant relative. He then inherited the Grey estates at Bradgate Park in Leicestershire with the Earldom in 1720, thus uniting the two Grey estates. He chose to live at Enville, allowing the Bradgate Park house to fall into disrepair.