Gray's Inn

 1 out of 4

Gray's Inn Griffin

The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, a person must belong to one of these inns. Located at the intersection of High Holborn and Gray's Inn Road in Central London, the inn is both a professional body and a provider of office accommodation (chambers) for many barristers. It is ruled by a governing council called "pension", made up of the masters of the bench (or "benchers"), and led by the Treasurer, who is elected to serve a one-year term.

The inn is known for its gardens or walks, which have existed since at least 1597.

1677 Gray's Inn

Gray's Inn does not claim a specific foundation date; there is a tradition that none of the Inns of Court claims to be any older than the others. Law clerks and their apprentices have been established on the present site since at least 1370, with records dating from 1381. During the 15th and 16th centuries, the inn grew steadily with great prestige, reaching its pinnacle during the reign of Elizabeth I. The inn was home to many important barristers and politicians, most notably Francis Bacon, and counted Queen Elizabeth herself as a patron. Thanks to the efforts of prominent members such as William Cecil and Gilbert Gerard, Gray's Inn became the largest of the four by number, with over 200 barristers recorded as members. During this period, the inn became noted for the masques and revels that it threw, and William Shakespeare is believed to have first performed The Comedy of Errors there.

The inn continued to prosper during the reign of James I (1603–1625) and the beginning of that of Charles I, when over 100 students per year were recorded as joining. The outbreak of the First English Civil War in 1642 during the reign of Charles I disrupted the systems of legal education and governance at the Inns of Court, shutting down all calls to the bar and new admissions, and Gray's Inn never fully recovered. Fortunes continued to decline after the English Restoration, which saw the end of the traditional method of legal education. Although now more prosperous, Gray's Inn is today the smallest of the Inns of Court.

Gray's Inn dates from at least 1370, and takes its name from Baron Grey of Wilton, as the Inn was originally Wilton's family townhouse (or inn) within the Manor of Portpoole. A lease was taken for various parts of the inn by practising lawyers as both residential and working accommodation, and their apprentices were housed with them. From this, the tradition of dining in "commons", probably by using the inn's main hall, followed as the most convenient arrangement for the members. Outside records from 1437 show that Gray's Inn was occupied by socii, or members of a society, at that date.

The Inn's buildings & walks, in a compound on the left-hand side of "Greys ynne* la.",

shown on the "Woodcut" map of London of the 1560s

In 1456 Reginald de Gray, the owner of the Manor itself, sold the land to a group including Thomas Bryan. A few months later, the other members signed deeds of release, granting the property solely to Thomas Bryan. Bryan acted as either a feoffee or an owner representing the governing body of the Inn (there are some records suggesting he may have been a Bencher at this point) but in 1493 he transferred the ownership by charter to a group including Sir Robert Brudenell and Thomas Wodeward, reverting the ownership of the Inn partially back to the Gray family.

COA 1st Baron Grey of Wilton

In 2008 Gray's Inn became the first Inn to appoint "fellows"—elected businesspeople, legal academics and others—with the intent of giving them a wider perspective and education than the other Inns would offer.

23 June 1295, when Reginald de Grey was summoned to an assembly prior to the Model Parliament that was summoned that November, as Lord Grey de Wilton. Burke's Peerage notes that the June "assembly in question is not now recognized as a bona fide Parl[iament]", but that Reginald had earlier been summoned to the "assembly called a full Parl[iament] of 29 May 1290". This branch of the Grey family of aristocrats was based at Wilton Castle on the Welsh border in Herefordshire. The Greys of Wilton, as well as the other old noble families bearing the name of Grey/Gray, are descended from the Norman knight Anchetil de Greye. Wilton Castle itself passed from the family when the thirteenth Baron was forced to sell it to raise his ransom after being captured in France. Sir Thomas Grey, the fifteenth Baron, was attainted in 1603, forfeiting his titles and honours, after being convicted of treason for his alleged involvement in the Bye Plot against King James I. Grey never married. The attainder against him was not reversed prior to his death. His two sisters would have been his co-heiresses but for the attainder; one of them, Bridget, married Sir Roland Egerton, 1st Baronet and they were ancestors of the recipient of the second creation below.

Second creation

Thomas Egerton, who became Baron Grey de Wilton in 1784, then Viscount Grey de Wilton and Earl of Wilton in 1801

The second creation was in 1784 when Sir Thomas Egerton (1749–1814) was created Baron Grey de Wilton, of Wilton Castle, with remainder to the heirs male of his body. He was a member of the Egerton family and had in 1756 succeeded to his father's Grey Egerton baronetcy. The 1st Baronet had married Bridget Grey, the sister of Sir Thomas Grey. In 1801, the 1st Baron Grey de Wilton was also made Viscount Grey de Wilton and Earl of Wilton, of Wilton Castle in the County of Hereford, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The latter titles were created with remainder to the second and younger sons successively of his daughter Eleanor, wife of Robert Grosvenor, 1st Marquess of Westminster.

On the 1st Earl of Wilton's death in 1804, the Grey de Wilton barony became extinct as he had no sons, while the Grey Egerton baronetcy passed to a distant relative. The titles of Earl of Wilton and Viscount Grey de Wilton passed, according to the special remainder, to the 1st Earl's grandson, Thomas Grosvenor (1799–1882), who adopted the surname of Egerton and became the 2nd Earl. These titles are still extant.

Ancestors

• Henry de Grey was granted the manor of Grays Thurrock, Essex in 1195 and had six sons
• Sir John de Grey, father of the 1st baron Grey of Wilton

Barons Grey de Wilton (1295)

• Reginald de Grey, 1st Baron Grey de Wilton (d. 1308)
• John Grey, 2nd Baron Grey de Wilton (1268–1323)
• Henry Grey, 3rd Baron Grey de Wilton (1282–1342)
• Reginald Grey, 4th Baron Grey de Wilton (1312–1370)
• Henry Grey, 5th Baron Grey de Wilton (1342–1396) married Elizabeth Talbot and had a daughter, Margaret Grey, who married Sir John Darcy, 5th Lord Darcy of Knayth, 4th Lord Meinell
• Richard Grey, 6th Baron Grey de Wilton (1393–1442)
• Reginald Grey, 7th Baron Grey de Wilton (1421–1493)
• John Grey, 8th Baron Grey de Wilton (d. 1498)
• Edmund Grey, 9th Baron Grey de Wilton (d. 1511)
• George Grey, 10th Baron Grey de Wilton (d. 1515) succeeded his father Edmund but died before reaching his majority.
• Thomas Grey, 11th Baron Grey de Wilton (1497–1518) succeeded his brother George but died before reaching his majority.
• Richard Grey, 12th Baron Grey de Wilton (1507–1520) succeeded his brother Thomas but died before reaching his majority.
• William Grey, 13th Baron Grey de Wilton (d. 1562) succeeded his brother Richard
• Arthur Grey, 14th Baron Grey de Wilton (1536–1593)
• Thomas Grey, 15th Baron Grey de Wilton (1575–1614) Title attainted 1603; extinct 1614.

Barons Grey de Wilton (1784)

• Thomas Egerton, 1st Baron Grey de Wilton (1749–1814) (created Earl of Wilton in 1801)
• succeeded as Earl of Wilton according to the special remainder by his grandson, Thomas Grosvenor (1799–1882)

Wilton Castle

Birdstow, Hereford & Worcester, England

Past Ross-on-Wye on the A40 just before reaching the Wilton roundabout to the left is the Wilton Castle.

Herefordshire is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire and Powys to the west.

* "ynne" inn, inne, ine, yn, ynne: The town residence of a nobleman or distinguished person