GREY, LADY JANE (1537-1554), for 9 days queen of England, was the great-granddaughter of Henry VII. She was the daughter of Henry Grey, marquess of Dorset by his wife, Lady Frances Brandon, daughter of Princess Mary of England by her second marriage with Charles Brandon, duke of Suffolk.
She was born at Bradgate, Leicestershire about 1537. Her parents bestowed more than ordinary care upon her education, and she became the marvel of the age for her acquirements. She spoke and wrote Greek and Latin with an accuracy that satisfied even such critics as Ascham and her tutor Dr. Aylmer, afterwards bishop of London. She also acquired some knowledge of at least three Oriental tongues, Hebrew, Chaldee and Arabic. In his Schoolmaster Ascham records her devotion to her studies and the harshness she experienced from her parents. Learning was her solace ; in reading Demosthenes and Plato she found a refuge from domestic unhappiness. At nine years old Thomas, Lord Seymour, obtained her wardship, and induced her parents to let her stay with him, even after the death of his wife, Queen Cath erine Parr, by promising to marry her to his nephew, King Ed ward VI. Lord Seymour, however, was attainted of high treason and beheaded in Jane returned to her studies at Bradgate. But the duke of Somerset was beheaded three years after his brother and, the dukedom of Suffolk having become extinct by the deaths of Charles Brandon and his two sons, the title was con ferred upon the marquess of Dorset, Jane's father. Jane was now constantly at court. Northumberland, who was all-powerful, en deavoured to secure his position by family alliances. His fourth son, Lord Guilford Dudley, was accordingly wedded to Lady Jane Grey about the end of May 1553. The bride went to live with her husband's parents, whom she disliked, and the misery of her marriage brought on a severe illness. The match had the full approval of Edward VI., who was now persuaded by Northumber land to break through his father's will and make a new settle ment in favour of Lady Jane of the crown by deed. The docu ment was witnessed by the signatures of all the council and of all but one of the judges; but the judges were obtained only with difficulty by threats and intimidation.
Edward VI. died on July 6, 1553, and it was announced to Lady Jane that she was queen. She was sixteen years of age. The news was a most unwelcome surprise ; she fainted and for some time resisted all persuasions to accept the fatal dignity, but she yielded. The better to mature their plans the cabal had kept the king's death secret for some days; Queen Jane's proclamation was issued on the loth. Mary, however, had received early intimation of her brother's death, and, retiring from Hunsdon into Norfolk, gathered round her the nobility and commons of those parts. The army with which Northumberland went to oppose her began to melt away. The earl of Oxford had declared for Queen Mary ; and as the council procured a meeting at Baynard's Castle, revoked their former acts as done under coercion, and caused the lord mayor to proclaim Queen Mary, which he did (July 19) amid the shouts of the citizens. The duke of Suffolk told his daughter that she must lay aside her royal dignity ; she replied that she relinquished most willingly a crown that she had only accepted out of obedience to him and her mother, and her nine days' reign was over.
Lady Jane and her father were committed to the Tower; but Suffolk procured a pardon. Lady Jane, her husband Dudley and others were arraigned for high treason at the Guildhall (Nov. 14). She pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to death. The execu tion of the sentence was delayed, but the participation of her father the duke of Suffolk in the Wyat rebellion sealed her fate. She and her husband were beheaded on Feb. 12, 1554, her hus band on Tower Hill, and herself within the Tower an hour after wards, amidst universal sympathy and compassion.
See Ascham's Schoolmaster; Burnet's History of the Reformation; Howard's Lady Jane Grey; Nicolas's Literary Remains of Lady Jane Grey; Tytler's England under Edward VI. and Mary; The Chronicles of Queen Jane, ed. J. G. Nichols; The Accession of Queen Mary (Guaras's narrative) , ed. R. Garnett (1892) ; Foxe's Acts and Monu ments.
Contemporary authorities are: The Chronicle of Queen Jane and of Two Years of Queen Mary, by a "resident of the Tower of London," Harl ms. 194, Brit. Mus. (ed. J. G. Nichols 185o) ; Historia delle cose . . . in materia del duca di Nortomberland (Venice, 15o8), compiled by G. R. Rosso from the despatches of the Venetian ambassador; the letters and works attributed to Lady Jane in the appendix to Michel angelo Florio, Historia de la Vita e de la morte de . . . Giovanna Graia (16o7) ; and Sir H. Nicolas, The Literary Remains of Lady Jane Grey (182 5) . See also A. Strickland, Tudor Princesses (1868) , and references under MARY I.