George Edward Grey

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Hon. Sir George Edward Grey
3rd Governor of South Australia
In office 15 May 1841 – 25 October 1845
Preceded by	Colonel George Gawler
Succeeded by	Lieutenant Colonel Frederick Robe
3rd Governor of New Zealand
In office 18 November 1845 – 3 January 1854 December 1861 – 5 February 1868
Preceded by	Captain Robert FitzRoy (1845) Colonel Thomas Gore Browne (1861)
Succeeded by	Colonel Thomas Gore Browne (1854) Sir George Ferguson Bowen (1868)
11th Premier of New Zealand
In office 13 October 1877 – 8 October 1879
Preceded by	Harry Atkinson
Succeeded by	John Hall
Born	April 14, 1812 Lisbon,  Portugal
Died	September 19, 1898 London,  United Kingdom

For other men with a similar name, see George Grey or George Gray

Sir George Edward Grey, KCB (April 14, 1812 – September 19, 1898) was a soldier, explorer, Governor of South Australia, twice Governor of New Zealand, Governor of Cape Colony (South Africa), Premier of New Zealand and a writer.

Contents 1 Early life and exploration 2 Governor of South Australia 3 Governor of New Zealand 4 Premier of New Zealand 5 Places named after Grey 6 Criticisms 6.1 Credo Mutwa on George Grey 7 See also 8 References 9 External links

[edit] Early life and exploration

Grey was born in Lisbon, Portugal just a few days after his father, Lieutenant-Colonel Grey of the 30th Foot, was killed at the Battle of Badajoz in Spain. His mother, on the balcony of her hotel in Lisbon, overheard two officers speak of his death and this brought on his premature birth.

In 1837, as a young man, he led a catastrophically ill-prepared expedition of exploration of north-west Australia from Cape Town — only one man of his party had seen northern Australia before. Wrecked, almost drowned and completely lost, with Grey wounded in a skirmish with Aborigines, they traced the course of the Glenelg River before giving up and retiring to Mauritius to recover.

Two years later Grey returned to Western Australia and was again wrecked with his party at Kalbarri; they were the first Europeans to see the Gascoyne River but then had to walk to Perth, surviving the journey through the efforts of Maigo, a Whadjuk Noongar, who organised food and what water could be found (they survived by drinking liquid mud). At about this time Grey became one of the few Europeans to learn the Noongar language of south-west Western Australia.

[edit] Governor of South Australia

Grey was the third Governor of South Australia, from 1841 to 1845. He oversaw the colony during a difficult formative period. Despite being seen as less hands-on than his predecessor, George Gawler, his fiscally responsible measures ensured the colony was in good shape by the time he left to govern New Zealand.

[edit] Governor of New Zealand

Grey was the most influential figure during the European settlement of New Zealand for the second half of the 19th century. Governor of New Zealand from 1845 to 1853, he was again appointed Governor in 1861 following the granting of a degree of self-governance to New Zealand, serving until 1868. He was created a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1848.

Grey greatly influenced the final form of the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852.

“	He learned Māori and persuaded Māori authorities to commit their legends and traditions to writing, some of which were subsequently published…. His collected papers would turn out to be the largest single repository of Māori-language manuscripts	”
— Michael King[1]

Grey was Governor of Cape Colony from 5 December 1854 to 15 August 1861. He founded Grey College, Bloemfontein in 1855 and Grey High School in Port Elizabeth in 1856.

Grey bought Kawau Island in 1862, on his return to New Zealand for his second term as governor. For 25 years he lavished large amounts of his personal wealth on the island's development, including enlarging and remodelling Mansion House, the former residence of the copper mine superintendent. Here he planted a huge array of exotic trees and shrubs, acclimatised many bird and animal species, and amassed a celebrated collection of rare books and manuscripts, artworks and curiosities, and artefacts from the Māori people over whom he had ruled.

Grey launched the Invasion of the Waikato to take control of the rich Māori agricultural region. The war brought many British troops to New Zealand: at one time more were situated there than anywhere else in the world.

[edit] Premier of New Zealand

In 1875 he was elected Superintendent of Auckland Province, and was elected a Member of Parliament in the 1875 general election. Grey opposed the abolition of the provinces. From 1877 to 1879 he was Premier of New Zealand.

[edit] Places named after Grey

Places named after Grey include Greytown in the Wairarapa region of New Zealand; Greytown, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa; the Division of Grey, an Australian Electoral Division in South Australia; and George Grey Drive in Kalbarri, Western Australia.

[edit] Criticisms

[edit] Credo Mutwa on George Grey

Vusamazulu Credo Mutwa, Sangoma of the Zulu Africans and historian, claims that Grey was the founder of apartheid and racial discrimination in Africa in the mid 1800s.

[edit] See also

• History of Adelaide
• History of Cape Colony from 1806 to 1870

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• George Grey page from the website of the Prime Minister of New Zealand
• Grey's development of Kawau Island
• Works by George Grey at Project Gutenberg
• The Romance of a Pro-Consul: Being the Personal Life and Memoirs of The Right Hon. Sir George Grey, available at Project Gutenberg. by James Milne

Government offices
Preceded by Colonel George Gawler	Governor of South Australia 1841 – 1845	Succeeded by Lieutenant-Colonel Frederick Robe
Preceded by Captain Robert FitzRoy	Governor of New Zealand 1845 – 1854	Succeeded by Colonel Thomas Gore Browne
Preceded by George Cathcart Charles Henry Darling (acting)	Governor of Cape Colony 1854 – 1861	Succeeded by Robert Wynyard (acting) Sir Philip Wodehouse
Preceded by Colonel Thomas Gore Browne	Governor of New Zealand 1861 – 1868	Succeeded by Sir George Ferguson Bowen

 

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Preceded by: Harry Atkinson	(1877 - 1879)	Succeeded by: John Hall
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