The Right Honourable The Viscount Grey of Fallodon KG Bt PC DL FZS |
|
---|---|
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs | |
In office 10 December 1905 – 10 December 1916 |
|
Prime Minister |
Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman H. H. Asquith |
Preceded by | The Marquess of Lansdowne |
Succeeded by | Arthur Balfour |
British Ambassador to the United States | |
In office 1919–1920 |
|
Monarch | George V |
President | Woodrow Wilson |
Prime Minister | David Lloyd George |
Preceded by | The Earl of Reading |
Succeeded by | Sir Auckland Geddes |
Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs | |
In office 18 August 1892 – 20 June 1895 |
|
Prime Minister |
William Ewart Gladstone The Earl of Rosebery |
Preceded by | James Lowther |
Succeeded by | Hon. George Curzon |
Personal details | |
Born |
London, England, UK |
25 April 1862
Died | 7 September 1933 Fallodon, Northumberland, England, UK |
(aged 71)
Nationality | British |
Political party | Liberal |
Spouse(s) | (1) Dorothy Widdrington (20 October 1885 – 4 February 1906) (2) Pamela Wyndham (d. 18 November 1928) |
Alma mater | Balliol College, Oxford |
Profession | Politician |
Religion | Anglican |
Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon, KG, Bt, PC, DL, FZS (25 April 1862 – 7 September 1933), better known as Sir Edward Grey (he was 3rd Baronet Grey of Fallodon), was a British Liberal statesman. An adherent of the "New Liberalism", he served as foreign secretary from 1905 to 1916, the longest continuous tenure of any person in that office. He is probably best remembered for his "the lamps are going out" remark on 3 August 1914 on the outbreak of the First World War. He signed the Sykes-Picot Agreement on 16 May 1916. Ennobled in 1916, he was Ambassador to the United States between 1919 and 1920 and Leader of the Liberal Party in the House of Lords between 1923 and 1924.
Grey was the eldest of the seven children of Colonel George Henry Grey and Harriet Jane Pearson, daughter of Charles Pearson. His grandfather Sir George Grey, 2nd Baronet of Fallodon, was also a prominent Liberal politician, while his great-grandfather Sir George Grey, 1st Baronet of Fallodon, was the third son of Charles Grey, 1st Earl Grey, and the younger brother of Prime Minister Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey. He was also a cousin of two later British Foreign Secretaries: Anthony Eden and Lord Halifax. Grey attended Temple Grove School from 1873 until 1876. Whilst he was at that school his father died unexpectedly in December 1874, and his grandfather assumed responsibility for his education, sending him to Winchester College.