Page "Earl of Stamford" Paragraph 4

The late Earl was succeeded in the barony of Grey of Groby and the earldom of Stamford by his third cousin once removed Reverend Harry Grey, the eighth Earl.

He was the son of Reverend Harry Grey, son of the Hon.

John Grey, third son of the fourth Earl.

He was succeeded by his nephew, the ninth Earl.

However, it was not until 1892 that the Committee for Privileges of the House of Lords confirmed the latter in the title, as the Committee wished to be assured that a marriage contracted by the 8th Earl while he lived abroad had not produced a legitimate heir.

( The 8th Earl, who lived in South Africa, had married his housekeeper after she had already given birth to two of his children, the elder of whom was a boy.

As this son was born before the date of his father's marriage however his illegitimacy prevented his inheriting the title ; while a third child, born after the marriage and therefore legitimate, could not inherit the earldom because she was female.

) On the 9th Earl's death the titles passed to his son, the tenth Earl.

He served briefly as Parliamentary Private Secretary ( unpaid ) to the Secretary of State for India, Lord Peel, in 1922 and was also Mayor of Altrincham from 1937 to 1938.

Lord Stamford never married and on his death in 1976 his titles became extinct.