Francis Gray, 14th Lord Gray

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Sir Francis Gray, 14th Lord Gray FRS FRSE PSAS (1 September, 1765 – 20 August, 1842) was a Scottish peer, politician and soldier.

Life[]

He was born in Edinburgh on 1 September 1765 the youngest of twelve children to John Gray, 11th Lord Gray and his wife Margaret Blair of Kinfauns (1720-1790).[1] The family had a house at Adams Square in Edinburgh[2] and a family seat in the north of Scotland at Fowlis Castle.

He served in the Breadalbane Fencibles, a local militia, gaining the rank of Major by 1793.

In 1807, following the death of his older brother, William John Gray, 13th Lord Gray he succeeded to the peerage. From 1807 to 1810 he served as Deputy Postmaster General in Scotland. He sat in the House of Lords 1812 to 1841.[3]

In 1812 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were Ninian Imrie, John Playfair and Sir John Leslie. He served as the Society's Vice President from 1815 to 1823. In 1816 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London. From 1819 to 1823 he served as President of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. [4]

In 1822 he commissioned Robert Smirke to build Kinfauns Castle. In 1825 he further commissioned William Trotter to execute suites of furniture for the castle. The building was ready for occupation in 1826.[5] He commissioned Binnhill Tower in 1839.[6][7]

He died on 20 August 1842 and is buried in the family vault at Fowlis.

Family[]

In 1794 he married Mary Ann Johnston, daughter of Lt Col James Johnston. They had three daughters (one of whom, Jane Anne, was first wife of the soldier Charles Philip de Ainslie) and one son, who succeeded to the baronetcy.[8]

References[]

  1. ^ http://www.thepeerage.com/p2511.htm#i25102
  2. ^ Edinburgh Post Office directory 1773-74
  3. ^ Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002 (PDF). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006. ISBN 0-902-198-84-X.
  4. ^ Jones, David (1997). "William Trotter's Furniture for the 'chinease' Rooms at Kinfauns Castle, Perthshire". Furniture History. 33: 240–252. JSTOR 23408098.
  5. ^ Jones, David (1997). "William Trotter's Furniture for the 'chinease' Rooms at Kinfauns Castle, Perthshire". Furniture History. 33: 240–252. JSTOR 23408098.
  6. ^ William Macdonald Mackenzie - Dictionary of Scottish Architects
  7. ^ A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland, Samuel Lewis (1846), p. 73
  8. ^ Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th ed., vol. 2, ed. Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 2003, pp. 1642-3
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