GREY, CHARLES GREY, 2ND EARL

born March 13, 1764, Falloden, Northumberland, Eng. died July 17, 1845, Howick, Northumberland 2nd Earl Grey, painting attributed to T. Phillips, c. 1820; in the National Portrait also called (180106) Baron Grey, or (180607) Viscount Howick British politician, leader of the Whig (liberal) Party, and prime minister (183034), who presided over the passage of the Reform Act of 1832, modernizing the franchise and the electoral system. Additional reading G.M. Trevelyan, Lord Grey of the Reform Bill (1920), a sympathetic study, the only modern biography; C. Grey, Some Account of the Life and Opinions of Charles, Second Earl Grey (1861), a well-documented account of Grey's career up to 1817 by one of his sons, valuable for the author's firsthand knowledge; J.R.M. Butler, The Passing of the Great Reform Bill (1914), detailed study of Grey's major achievement.