The Right Honourable The Countess Grey |
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Born |
Whitehaven |
4 March 1776
Died | 26 November 1861 London |
(aged 85)
Nationality | British |
Spouse(s) | Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey (m. 1794; his death 1845) |
Children | See § Personal life |
Parent(s) |
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Mary Elizabeth Grey, Countess Grey (née Mary Elizabeth Ponsonby; 4 March 1776 – 26 November 1861) was a British aristocrat and Countess of Grey as wife of Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. She is also a great-great-great-great-grandmother of Diana, Princess of Wales.
Mary Elizabeth Ponsonby was born on 4 March 1776 in Whitehaven. She was the only daughter of William Ponsonby (1744–1806) the future 1st Baron Ponsonby and his wife, the Honourable Louisa Molesworth (1749–1824), daughter of Richard Molesworth, 3rd Viscount Molesworth.
She married on 18 November 1794 Mr. Charles Grey MP (1764–1845), the future 2nd Earl Grey and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Son of Charles Grey (1729–1807), later 1st Baron Grey and 1st Earl Grey, and his wife Elizabeth Grey née Grey (1743–1822). They had ten sons and six daughters:
Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 22 November 1830 to 16 July 1834. Mary Grey, Countess Grey, was widowed on 17 July 1845. She lived until 26 November 1861, when she died aged 85 in Eaton Square, London.