Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey

The Right Honourable Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey KG, PC
Portrait of Earl Grey by Thomas Phillips (1820)
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Leader of the House of Lords
In office 22 November 1830 – 9 July 1834
Monarch	William IV
Preceded by	The Duke of Wellington
Succeeded by	The Viscount Melbourne
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
In office 24 September 1806 – 25 March 1807
Prime Minister	The Lord Grenville
Preceded by	Charles James Fox
Succeeded by	George Canning
Leader of the House of Commons
In office 24 September 1806 – 31 March 1807
Prime Minister	The Lord Grenville
Preceded by	Charles James Fox
Succeeded by	Spencer Perceval
First Lord of the Admiralty
In office 11 February 1806 – 24 September 1806
Prime Minister	The Lord Grenville
Preceded by	The Lord Barham
Succeeded by	Thomas Grenville
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
Hereditary peerage 15 November 1807 – 17 July 1845
Preceded by	The 1st Earl Grey
Succeeded by	The 3rd Earl Grey
Member of Parliament for Northumberland
In office 14 September 1786 – 14 November 1807
Preceded by	Lord Algernon Percy
Succeeded by	Earl Percy
Personal details
Born	(1764-03-13)13 March 1764 Fallodon, Northumberland, England
Died	17 July 1845(1845-07-17) (aged 81) Howick, Northumberland, England
Political party	Whig
Spouse	Mary Ponsonby ​ (m. 1794)​
Children	17, including Henry, Charles, Frederick, and Eliza Courtney (illegitimate)
Parent	Charles Grey, 1st Earl Grey (father)
Relatives	House of Grey (family)
Alma mater	Trinity College, Cambridge
Signature

Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey (13 March 1764 – 17 July 1845), known as Viscount Howick between 1806 and 1807, was a British Whig politician, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1830 to 1834. As Prime Minister Grey won adoption of the Great Reform Act of 1832 which expanded the electorate in the United Kingdom;^[1] and passed the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 which abolished slavery in the British Empire.

Grey was a long-time leader of the reform movement. He presented his first petition to extend the electoral franchise of voting as a member of parliament in 1792, and as prime minister he ultimately passed the Reform Act of 1832, which extended the franchise of voting in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and which was accompanied by extensions of the electoral franchise in Scotland and Ireland with the Scottish Reform Act 1832 and the Irish Reform Act 1832.^[2]

He resigned as prime minister in 1834 over disagreements in his cabinet regarding Ireland, and he retired from politics. Scholars rank him highly among British prime ministers, believing that he defused civil strife and enabled Victorian progress.^[2] He may be the namesake of Earl Grey tea.^[3]