Born: October 21, 1936, Hayling Island
[Died] August 6, 2008. London. British playwright. Full name Simon James Holliday Gray. His works are known for their intricate plots, witty literary dialogue, and complex characterization. After attending Westminster School, he studied at Dalhousie University in Canada and Trinity College, Cambridge. While working as a lecturer at universities in the UK and Canada, he wrote satires and comedies for the stage and television. In 1968, he published his first play, Wise Child, about a fugitive criminal who disguises himself as a woman and infiltrates a gay inn. In 1971, Butley, a story about the failure of a middle-aged professor, gained worldwide acclaim and was made into a film in 1974. He subsequently wrote many works, including "Quartermaine's Terms" (1981), "The Common Pursuit" (1984), "The Late Middle Classes" (1999), and "Little Nell" (2006). In 2005 he was awarded the CBE. gray
Grey, Charles, 2nd Earl of Gray Born 13 March 1764 at Falloden, Northumberland
Died: July 17, 1845. Howick, Northumberland. British politician. Also spelled Grey. Eldest son of the 1st Earl Grey. Entered politics as a Whig member of the House of Commons in 1786. Opposed to the Pitt (Junior) cabinet, he allied with C. Fox and others, and in 1892 participated in the founding of the "Society of the People's Friends." He then devoted himself to the movement for parliamentary reform (→ Electoral Reform Movement). In 1806, after the death of Pitt (Junior) and the formation of W. Grenville's "National Strongmen Cabinet," Fox became Foreign Secretary and Grey became First Minister for the Navy. After Fox's death in the autumn of the same year, he became Foreign Secretary and Leader of the House of Commons, but the cabinet resigned en masse in the following year, and Grey succeeded his father as 2nd Earl and moved to the House of Lords. He later became the most powerful leader of the Whig Party, and after the collapse of the Tory government under the Duke of Wellington in 1930, he became Prime Minister of a coalition government of Whigs and Canningites, and embarked on parliamentary reform, which he had been calling for for many years, passing the First Electoral Amendment Bill in 1932. In 1934, he resigned after causing disagreement within his cabinet over the Irish question, and retired from politics. gray
Grey, Sir George Born: April 12, 1812, Lisbon
Died: September 19, 1898. London. British colonial administrator. Also spelled Grey. Served as governor in Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. Served in the military for 10 years from 1829, and participated in the Western Australian expedition from 1837 to 1839. Became governor of South Australia in 1841, and was appointed governor of New Zealand in 1845 to resolve the Maori problem in New Zealand, due to his skills in economic reconstruction and appeasement of the natives. He used a good combination of hard and soft tactics to achieve reconciliation, studied Maori culture himself, wrote about oral traditions, and promoted the westernization of the Maori people. Became governor of the Cape Colony in 1854, and achieved reconciliation with the natives. However, his attempt to federate the British and Boer areas was opposed, and he returned to his position as governor in 1861. He was a member of the New Zealand Parliament from 1874 to 1894, and during that time he was prime minister (1877-1879), before retiring to Britain. gray
Gray, Asa Born November 18, 1810 in Sauquoit, New York.
Died January 30, 1888. Cambridge, Massachusetts. American plant taxonomist and botanical geographer. Graduated from Fairfield Medical School in 1831. He collected and classified North American plants, and wrote "Gray's Manual" (1848), a classification guide that was widely used at the time. He was a professor of natural history at Harvard University (42). In 1865, he donated his plant specimens and several thousand volumes of books to the university. This was the basis for the establishment of the Department of Botany at Harvard University. He also conducted research on the geographical distribution of plants, and the results were used by C. Darwin as material for writing "On the Origin of Species." Gray was a leading supporter of Darwin in the United States, and published a collection of essays in support of Darwin's theory, "Darwiniana" (76). gray
Gray, Thomas Born: 26 December 1716, London
Died July 30, 1771. British poet from Cambridge. Educated at Eton College and Cambridge University, he lived a hermit-like life in a college hall at Cambridge from 1742 onwards, and was later appointed professor of history and modern languages. His meditative poem, Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard (1751), became extremely popular and is one of the most widely known English poems. He was nominated for Poet Laureate in 1757, but declined. His other works include Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College (47), The Progress of Poesy (57), The Bard (57), and translations of Scandinavian literature. Although he did not produce many works, his refined and elegant style of poetry is worthy of being a representative of the late Classical period. gray
Grey, Henry George, 3rd Earl of Gray Born: 28 December 1802, Howick, Northumberland
Died: October 9, 1894. Howick, Northumberland. British politician. Eldest son of Charles Grey, 2nd Earl. From 1826 to 1845, he was a Whig member of the House of Commons, and supported parliamentary reform and free trade. In 1830, he became Under Secretary of State for Colonies, but in 1833, he resigned after the immediate emancipation of slaves in the West Indies was not supported. In 1834, he was Under Secretary of State for the Home Office, and from 1835 to 1839, he was Secretary of State for War. In 1845, he moved to the House of Lords, and from 1846 to 1852, he was Secretary of State for the Colonies and Secretary of State for War, and contributed to improving self-government in the white colonies of the Empire, particularly in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Although he was never a cabinet minister after 1852, he occupied a unique position in politics and was a harsh critic of the policies of the Liberal government. He was particularly opposed to W. Gladstone's policy of Irish Home Rule. gray
Gray, John Born: 1799, England
Died in 1883. A Scottish-British Ricardian socialist. Influenced by his experience working in commerce as a youth and by R. Owen's principles of co-operatives during the social unrest following the Napoleonic Wars, he became critical of the capitalist economic system, and in his major work, A Lecture on Human Happiness (1825), he developed the idea of the full rights of labour. He also made a systematic argument for the theory of labour money. He also developed utopian socialist ideas in his other works, including "The Social System" (31) and "Lectures on the Nature and Use of Money" (48), in addition to those mentioned above. In his later years, he returned to business and did not write. (→ Utopian Socialism) gray
Grey of Fallodon, Edward Born: April 25, 1862, London
Died September 7, 1933. British politician from near Embleton. Entered politics as a Liberal Member of Parliament in 1885. Became Foreign Secretary in the Liberal Cabinet of H. Campbell-Banaman in 1905, and led British foreign policy before and during World War I. In order to counter the growing power of Germany, he formed alliances with France, Russia, Japan, and others, and was instrumental in the conclusion of the Anglo-Russian Entente and the Anglo-French Naval Agreement. He tried to resolve the Balkan problem and mediate the conflict between Austria and Serbia, but when Germany violated Belgian neutrality, he declared war on Germany, and led wartime diplomacy. In 1916, he stepped down from office when the Cabinet of H. Asquith resigned, and was made a Viscount. From 1923 to 1924, he led the opposition in the House of Lords. gray
Grey, Zane Born January 31, 1875 in Zanesville, Ohio
[Died] October 23, 1939, Altadena, California. American novelist. He worked as a dentist in New York, but after self-publishing his debut novel, Betty Zane (1904), he devoted himself to writing. After receiving favorable reviews for The Spirit of the Border (05), he established his reputation with Riders of the Purple Sage (12). As a writer of popular western novels, he wrote over 60 works, of which The Last of the Plainsmen (08) is considered his masterpiece. gray
Gray, Stephen Born: 1666. Canterbury
[Died] February 15, 1736. London. British physicist. Under the tutelage of J. Flamsteed, he began his academic career by publishing several papers in the Royal Society's journal, Philosophical Transactions, beginning with his original theory on a microscope that used a water drop as an objective lens. In the latter half of his life, he was almost entirely devoted to experimental research into electricity. In particular, he was responsible for clarifying electrical conduction, and in the process establishing the distinction between conductors and insulators, as well as for his research into the phenomenon of dielectric polarization. He was a member of the Royal Society (1732). gray
Grey, Lady Jane Born October 1537, Bradgate, Leicestershire
[Died] February 12, 1554, London. Queen of England, Tudor dynasty (reigned July 9, 1553 - July 17, 1553). Great-granddaughter of Henry VII. Known for her intelligence and beauty from her childhood. In May 1553, she was forced to marry Northumberland's son, Guildford Dudley, through a plot by Northumberland. In July of the same year, she ascended to the throne through a conspiracy by the Duke of Northumberland. However, she was deposed within nine days, and later executed along with her husband for suspected involvement in T. Wyatt's rebellion. gray
Grey, Beryl Born June 11, 1927. Highgate, England. Born Groom. In 1942, she became a soloist with the Sadler's Wells Ballet (later the Royal Ballet), dancing in Swan Lake, Giselle, Sleeping Beauty, and other works. She danced as a guest artist with the Royal Ballet of Stockholm, the Leningrad Ballet, the Bolshoi Ballet, and others, before leaving the Royal Ballet in 1957. She served as artistic director of the London Festival Ballet from 1968 to 1979. gray
Gray, Robert Born May 10, 1755 in Tiverton, Rhode Island.
[Died] 1806. American captain and explorer off the east coast of the United States. From 1787 to 1790, he was the first American to successfully circumnavigate the world. In May 1792, he explored the Columbia River in the Oregon region, giving the United States the basis for claiming sovereignty over the region. gray
Gray, Horace Born: March 24, 1828, Boston
[Died] September 15, 1902.
American judge. Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Court from 1864 to 1873, Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Court from 1873 to 1881, and Justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1882 to 1902. Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information |
