Authors: Ian Hurst and Richard Southin

Orders of the day, Volume 32, Issue 5, Sept 2000

The Greys of Groby and Bradgate were successors to a family of high rank and influential connections in the aristocracy of England. They claimed descent from Anchitell de Grey, who took part in the Norman invasion of 1066. The Greys first began their connection with Groby when a Sir Edward Grey married Elizabeth, the heiress daughter of the fifth Lord Ferrars of Groby. This Sir Edward was summoned to Parliament in 1446 as Lord Ferrars of Groby.

The family first moved into national prominence when his son, Sir John Grey of Groby, married Elizabeth Woodville. This lady, later made a widow by the Battle of St Albans in the Wars of the Roses, went on to marry the Yorkist King Edward IV and to mother the two ‘Princes in the Tower’. Having attained high office under Edward IV and suffered under the rule of his brother Richard III (including the deaths of Lords Rivers and Ferrars, and the exile of the Marquis of Dorset), the Greys returned to the support of Henry Tudor and their original Lancastrian allegiance. After the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 they were well established in the new regime. The head of the family, the second Marquis of Dorset, built Bradgate House in his hunting park between about 1490 and 1520. During the reign of Edward VI, Dorset’s son, the Duke of Suffolk, together with the Earl of Northumberland, endeavoured to secure the levers of national power by marrying the daughter of the former, Jane Grey, to the son of the latter, Guildford Dudley, and to bar the accession to the throne of the Roman Catholic Mary Tudor on the death of her brother Edward. The reign of the tragic Lady Jane (aged 15) lasted only nine days. This attempted coup cost the Grey family dear, with Suffolk, Guildford Dudley and Lady Jane all beheaded in 1554.

It was not until 1603, when Sir Henry Grey gained the title of Lord Grey, that the family saw a marked revival in its fortunes. Sir Henry Grey’s eldest son and heir, Sir John Grey, died before him, leaving his own son, another Henry, to succeed to the title of Lord Grey of Groby in 1614. He resided principally at Bradgate, the centre of his many properties. Here he worked hard to restore the position of the Greys in Leicestershire, a position that had been eclipsed by the Hastings family since 1554.

In 1623 he and his wife Ann produced a son and heir, Thomas. In 1628 Henry was created Earl of Stamford, and at the age of five Thomas became the third Lord Grey of Groby. Most of the young lord’s time would have been spent at Bradgate House or Groby Manor. By the early 1630s the Earl of Stamford had an income of around £3,000 per annum and owned a great deal of land including parts of Charnwood Forest. In 1634 Bradgate House received a royal visit, which seemed to mark a rise in and restoration of the Grey family’s fortunes in the county, when Charles I and his French wife Henrietta Maria were entertained there. At the time of the visit Thomas, Lord Grey of Groby, was aged 10 or 11.

Due to frustrations in business aspirations and differences in policy both locally and nationally, the Grey family started to turn against the King, like many others. They were a Puritan family and had a long tradition of being so. By 1640 Thomas, at 17, began to see events in his life both locally and nationally rapidly gather speed. In March 1641 the young aristocratic Member of Parliament for Leicester was admitted to Gray’s Inn like his father before him. In 1641 the Grand Remonstrance and Petition was drawn up by Parliament to protest to the King about “Oppressions in Religion, Church Government and Discipline”; the young Lord Grey was one of the twelve members of the committee selected to present it to the monarch and was referred to as “a Lord dear to the House of Commons”.

War Breaks Out

In 1642 civil war broke out due to quarrels with both King and Parliament, and the Grey family sided with the Parliament cause. On the other hand, the Greys’ sworn enemies and also a powerful family, the Hastings, supported the King. Thomas was now a young man of nineteen, while the not-yet-famous Oliver Cromwell was forty-three. As hostilities began, the Greys seized all of Leicester’s arms held at the magazine and placed them at Bradgate, much to the annoyance of Henry Hastings, who complained to both the mayor of Leicester and to Charles I. On the orders of the King a fine of £2000 was made upon the city for the ease with which it gave up the arms.

In March 1642 Parliament ordered the raising of a militia in Leicester, and the Earl of Stamford named his son Thomas as being responsible for the raising and training of all Parliament forces in Leicestershire. All the happenings over the last few months must have been very exciting for a man of his age, but also a great responsibility. Thomas’s first military encounter was at the battle of Edgehill, where with a troop of horse at his command (made up of his friends, neighbours, tenants and servants) he fought on the Earl of Essex’s right wing. It appears this regiment acquitted itself well in the action. At this first real battle of the Civil War both sides retired claiming victory.

It was at this time, with both his father away on garrison duty in Hereford and Thomas training troops in Leicester, that Lord Hastings and Prince Rupert attacked Bradgate House. Though they beat up the servants, little was taken apart from the chaplain’s clothes. “Prince Rupert and Master Hastings and many cavaliers went to my Lord Grey, the Earl of Stamford’s house, from whence they took all his arms and spoiled all his goods and some chief ones asked, “Where are the brats, the young children? God Damn them! they would be killed that there be no more of the breed of them”. But God stirred up some friends to succour them.” The ‘brats’ referred to would have been Lord Grey’s three younger brothers: Anchitell, John and Leonard, and his five young sisters.

In December 1642 Henry Grey was appointed Lord General of South Wales, Hereford, Gloucestershire, Worcestershire and Cheshire. With his father now stationed outside the Midland counties, Thomas Lord Grey was appointed Lord General of the Association of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Rutland and Lincolnshire, and was given the power to raise a force on behalf of Parliament. Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire and Huntingdonshire were also put under his command.

By now both armies went into winter quarters (as most roads would have been unpassable, especially with an army of two thousand or more) and most of his troops would have been stationed at garrisons around the counties. Lord Grey was later to raise a regiment of foot which consisted of five companies. The first was commanded in his absence by his cousin, Colonel Henry Grey, who also acted as the Governor of Leicester, again in Lord Grey’s absence.

Uniform

Most Midland regiments wore the colour of blue, supplied by the commander of the Regiment (pre-New Model). Blue was a common colour and was worn by regiments including those of Lord Grey, Sir Arthur Haselrigg, the Earl of Stamford and Henry Hastings (Royalist). This must have caused much confusion as to who was the enemy. Garrison soldiers on guard watch needed to know which side the approaching soldiers were on. For this reason, gate passes were issued or a password had to be given before gaining entry. (It is documented that one soldier was killed outside the gates of Leicester because he was mistaken for a Royalist).

Thomas Lord Grey received his commissions from the Earl of Essex, the Lord General of the forces raised by Parliament, who seems to have been a patron of his. Denzil Holles refers to this and Mark Noble mentions “the many obligations” and “a peculiar devoir” which Grey owed Essex. It is not clear what these were, but the two families of Grey and Devereux (Essex) were related and Stamford and Essex were close friends. Essex’s family life was unhappy and Grey seems to have been a surrogate son to him.

Commander-in-Chief

1643 saw the beginning of Lord Grey of Groby’s generalship. A rendezvous was arranged at Nottingham for Parliamentarian forces including those commanded by Col. Oliver Cromwell, Sir John Gell, Col. John Hutchinson, Col. Hubbard and John Hotham. Lord Grey was the Commander-in-Chief of this task force. During this time his reluctance to advance too far from Nottingham and Leicester made him open to criticism; as Oliver Cromwell said, “I perceive that Ashby-de-la-Zouch sticks much with him”. From this rather inglorious start however Lord Grey’s military career began to blossom.

In February 1643 the Rutland area was split between both Parliament and Royalist supporters; Grey with an army of over 6,000 men needed more arms and wrote to Parliament requesting these. Amongst the arms sent were 200 pairs of pistols, 1,000 muskets and furnishings, 100 carbines and a number of cannon. Knowing of a large magazine at Oakham, Lord Grey with 1,000 of his troops marched (with little resistance) and secured the magazine for the Parliament cause along with over twenty barrels of gunpowder and much ammunition. He then turned his attention to Burleigh House which he captured, again with very little resistance, and then placed a garrison of horse, foot and dragoons there to secure it from a Royalist assault.

In March 1643 Grey sent 300 foot, 100 cavalry and two cannon under the command of his cousin, Lt. Col. Henry Grey to reinforce Sir Edward Hartopp at Cotes Bridge (just outside Loughborough), very much to Hartopp’s relief. He was there to defend the important bridge for Parliament and so prevent the crossing of Henry Hastings and Sir Charles Lucas. A parliamentary account said, “Our Army came to Loughborough, and were joined by Lord Grey’s regiment. They fired one of their Cannon at the enemy, which killed a great many of their men and forced the rest to retreat”. Col. Henry Grey advanced across the bridge with his horse and foot, but was repelled by the rallying Royalist pike and musket. A second round of cannon fire from Col. Grey’s artillery caused the Royalist foot to retreat in confusion, opening the way for Hartopp’s horse to cross the bridge at the gallop. Having now taken the bridge Hartopp seemed to dither, and on hearing news of an advanced guard of 500 men of Prince Rupert’s only a short distance away, retired from the bridge and marched away towards Newark. Col. Grey in disgust returned back to Leicester.

In this year also another skirmish took place at what is now called ‘Battleflats’, two miles from Bagworth House when Hastings and a party of his men fell on some of Grey’s men. In this heated skirmish Henry Hastings lost an eye from a pistol shot and was then out of action for some time. It was also in this year that Lord Grey besieged Rockingham Castle, which under the threat of being fired upon by cannon the Royalist owner (Baron Watson) surrendered to Grey’s forces. The castle was then modified and changes made to the fortifications. Also at this time Grey, along with the combined forces of Sir John Gell and Sir William Brereton, took the town of Ashby, forcing the quartering troops of Hastings to retreat back within the castle walls.

In August 1643 Grey was requested to show an attachment of horse, foot and dragoons to the Earl of Essex at Aylesbury. This he did and was able to aid Essex in the prevention of Gloucester’s surrender to the Royalists. Only three days later they had a comprehensive victory over the Royalist army at Newbury. On hearing the news Parliament gave their thanks and voted that “The Lord Grey stands the foremost”.

Towards the end of 1643, with such a large area to cover, Grey spent all his time either with his ‘flying army’ or in London as an MP for Leicester. Burton upon Trent, now in the hands of Parliament, was recaptured by Hastings’ forces, only to have it retaken by Lord Grey and Sir John Gell. Most of Grey’s army would have at times been stationed at various towns and large houses to try and keep them out of the hands of the Royalists. Due to the problem of manning these garrisons, when the Bagworth House garrison was ordered to join Grey’s main body the garrison before it left set fire to the house to keep it from falling into the hands of the enemy. However although Grey had been reasonably successful in Parliament’s cause, it did not all go his way, as on 25th December 1643 his forces were defeated by those of Belvoir.

1644

By now the war had been raging for nearly two years, with both sides still trying to get the upper hand. Grey, now 21 years of age and in command of the Midland forces, was in a precarious position. With his father still out of the county, if he was to leave Leicester or the Midlands they would then be open to attack by Hastings’ forces, who were equal in number to his own. The Haselriggs of Nosley were also based in and around the Midlands and no love was lost between Grey and Sir Arthur’s son Thomas Haselrigg. It is documented that while in the House of Westminster, “Lord Grey … fell upon him with reproachful language in a loud tone, calling him a “Base-fellow and a rascal and other threatening language.”

An MP or a senior officer would have been paid well, unlike the common soldier who sometimes had to wait months for his pay. Sometimes miles from home with no money for beer and food, the cries of “Home! Home!” could be heard from the disgruntled men. One of Lord Grey’s letters from June 1644 reads, “I received your commands upon Saturday night, which as far as I am able, I will obey, but I hold it my duty to give you an account of the present state of the county. The Royalist Col. Nevill sent a strong party of horse to plunder Rowell Fair on Monday last, I have a great store of horses there, but I prevented him from doing so by sending my Broken Regiment of Horse to intercept him, though they fell in and out of quarter, they captured 11 horses and 6 men, and since your Lordships have commanded that 200 of my horse join the Earl of Denbigh, of my regiment, only 250 are left. These are chiefly occasioned for want of money, and having only received 14 days of a months pay as promised.”

Ten days later Grey was sent word to engage the enemy at Northampton, to which he marched out of Leicestershire with 400 foot and around 300 horse. Having quartered in Northampton for some time, he then attacked Ashby Castle with the help of Oliver Cromwell’s forces, forcing Hastings again to take refuge within the comparative safety of the castle walls.

Parliament Triumphant

In July 1644, following the battle of Marston Moor, Lord Grey was being kept increasingly busy by Royalists passing through the Midlands from Newark to Oxford (the King’s headquarters). Parliament’s victory at Marston Moor encouraged the Parliament army into thinking the unthinkable: that they could actually win the war. But to do so decisively they needed a better trained army; as Lord Manchester had said, “If we beat the King ninety nine times, he will still be our King and we his subjects, but if he beats us but once, we will all be hanged!”

In late 1644, all members of Parliament who held military posts took a ‘Self-Denying Ordinance’, thereby relinquishing their military commands. Lord Grey, Manchester and Essex were amongst those standing down. Grey, now no longer a general of the ‘Newly Modelled Army’, still commanded some of the Midland forces, but was not supported as he would have liked. Due to arguments with the Committee of Leicester he left that town with a small garrison to defend it and went on to campaign in the West Country (probably with his father). With the walls decaying around them, the Leicester Committee wrote to Parliament asking them to send for Lord Grey so that he could return to sort out the quarrels with his officers and put the town in some sort of defence.

The Fall of Leicester

On May 29th 1645 the King and Prince Rupert with 5,520 horse surrounded Leicester. The next day the infantry arrived (possibly another 5,000 men). The town was then summoned by Rupert’s trumpeter to surrender, but on the request for more time, Prince Rupert ordered the cannon barrage to start and the southern wall was quickly breached. The people of Leicester put up a gallant fight to save it from Royalist hands, but many were killed, including women and children. It is said that on entering the town Charles wept on seeing the amount of townsfolk who had been killed in the fighting. Leicester was now in Royalist hands, but much damage had been done to the already decaying walls and these needed to be repaired before any new assault by the Roundheads, which was not long in coming.

Although Lord Grey was not present at the last major battle of the Civil War at Naseby, on 14th June 1645 just south of Market Harborough, some of his old foot regiments would by now have been amalgamated into the New Model. This was the most decisive battle and a crushing defeat for the weaker Royalist army. After rounding up most of the Royalist officers, Fairfax marched on Leicester and retook it with hardly a fight. Lord Grey, still in command of his own regiment, was now, with the King all but beaten, becoming more powerful politically. There were two reasons which could explain why he was out of Leicester during the siege and also not present at Naseby: he had started to spend much time since taking the ‘Self Denying Ordinance’ in London developing his new political connections and also his courtship of his future wife Dorothy Bourchier (daughter and co-heir of Edward, Earl of Bath).

In October 1645 the Belvoir garrison was defeated and Belvoir fell to the Parliamentarians.

1645 -1647

This period saw the death of Grey’s patron, the Earl of Essex, who was killed in a hunting accident. Grey, now married, concentrated on his political career and had identified with the Independent faction in Parliament, which included Oliver Cromwell and Henry Ireton and had very strong links with the Army. Grey was rapidly becoming more radical in his politics, and was one of the Independent members who joined with the Speaker of the House of Commons to join the Army as it marched on London against Parliament. The leaders of this Presbyterian faction called out the London Trained Bands, but as resistance to the Army evaporated they fled abroad. Grey was now an even closer associate of the Army leaders Sir Thomas Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell.

In September 1645 Col. Needham (now Governor of Leicester) started the siege of Ashby Castle, again taking the castle in March 1646 and capturing Hastings’ men. One month later Lord Grey’s men slighted the Burleigh fortifications and with Belvoir now in the hands of the Parliamentarians, Newark was besieged. In April 1647 the fortifications of Belvoir, the once Royalist stronghold, were dismantled. In September of this year Grey moved the motion in the House of Commons that expelled the eleven absent Presbyterian leaders, including Denzil Holles.

Lord Grey Moves Centre Stage

In June 1648 the second Civil War broke out when the Prince of Wales, supported by the Scots Army and the northern Royalists, invaded England. Lord Grey raised forces in and around Leicestershire to crush any Royalist rising and then moved north to help resist the invading army. During this campaign he wrote a letter, “Old English Blood boyling afresh in Leicestershire Men”, addressed to Maj. Gen. Philip Skippon for transmission to Parliament. This gave a real insight into his religious and political attitudes, which were becoming increasingly radical and Puritan.

The Scots and the Royalists were defeated by Cromwell’s forces at the Battle of Preston in August 1648; their horse under Langdale and the Duke of Hamilton escaped south but in some disarray. Later that month Grey and his troops caught up with Hamilton, and he was captured in Staffordshire. Grey was rewarded for this and other past services by a grateful Parliament, and also had his military actions ratified, as he had of course been disqualified from such commands by the Self-denying Ordinance. As a result of his perceived zeal and activity for the new radical Parliamentarian cause he moved into the centre of the emerging junta of army leaders alongside Ireton and Cromwell. J Richards writes, “Insufficient attention has been previously given to his central role in events at this time which has been seriously underestimated.”

On 6th December 1648 Grey was involved in the ‘Purge of Parliament’ when Col. Thomas Pride’s regiment of foot, supported by Col. Rich’s Horse, clattered into Westminster. Pride then relieved the trained band guards and posted men around the House of Commons. Assisted by Lord Grey, who seemed to have been the key figure in this coup d’etat rather than Cromwell, Pride stood at the entrance to the House, denying entrance to all named in a list he held. It was then decided by those still in the House that the King should stand trial.

The King’s Trial and Execution

With the war all but over and Charles now held prisoner at Hurst Castle, Captain Francis Hacker (one of Lord Grey’s former officers) was in charge of the guard. On January 20th Grey sat in the Painted Chamber at Westminster as a member of the High Court of Justice. As Charles stood trial for high treason, on seeing Grey he referred to him as ‘the grinning dwarf’. Grey was the second to sign the death warrant after John Bradshaw (the President of the Court). Mark Noble, an 18th century writer, says of the signing of the death warrant by Lord Grey: “His presence was absolutely necessary to give some sanction to these infamous proceedings, and to overawe such as might be refractory”. In relation to Cromwell’s assumed influence over the other signatories, Lord Grey of Groby’s role is again likely to have been underrated. On 30th January 1649 Charles walked to Whitehall under the supervision of Francis Hacker and was there beheaded. When Grey, on returning to Bradgate, met his father, the latter asked, “Well - King or no King?”, “No King” replied Thomas; “Then no Lord Grey”, replied his father in disgust.

As the country started to get used to having no king, and Parliament to run the country, Grey was rewarded by Parliament for his actions in the war and also at the trial, by allocating him houses and land in London, as well as Holdenby House, Lord Craven’s estate at Coombe Abbey, an income from the Earl of Chesterfield ‘s estate and Lord Hatton’s estate at Moulton Park. In February 1649 he was appointed a member of the Council of State created by the Rump Parliament to govern the country after the execution of the King, and remained a member between 1649 to 1651 and 1652 to 1653. During this time he was described by some as a member of the Government of the new Republic or Commonwealth of England most in sympathy with the democratic political group called the Levellers.

Cromwell and The Commonwealth

Oliver Cromwell, now 50 years of age and Lord Protector, courted Lord Grey, but did not trust such an ambitious man, still only 26 years old. He kept constant spies upon him, because as he knew, if Grey was happy to lose the King, he would not have any respect for a man of lower class.

This was a time of the expansion of Grey’s power, wealth and influence. In August 1651 the newly crowned King Charles II (of the Scots) invaded England to regain the throne and Lord Grey was asked to raised troops to help counter this invasion. Following the defeat of the Royalist Army at Worcester, Parliament voted a £1,000 per annum pension to Grey for his great service to the Commonwealth. Throughout 1652 Grey rose high in the government of the State, a leading aristocrat and a major figure in the public regime. Noble comments that he was now in his “meridian glory; he had destroyed his sovereign and with him monarchy: he rose to be one of the Heads of State, having gratified his ambition and lust of rule”.

In 1653, while living at Coombe Abbey, his wife Lady Dorothy gave birth to their son and heir, also named Thomas. This was to be the year of changing fortunes for Grey; on the surface all seemed well, but Oliver Cromwell started to turn against him and others in order to secure his own pre-eminence as Lord Protector. Sir Thomas Fairfax had retired to a life in the country, and to Cromwell Lord Grey was a major rival - wealthy, ambitious, with influence in London and well regarded in the Army. On the other hand Grey distrusted Cromwell’s loyalty to the Commonwealth after such events as the crushing of the Levellers in the Army in 1649. The election of a new parliament was held and Grey was returned as MP for Leicester. Cromwell tried to ban him from taking his seat but Parliament insisted that he should do so.

Lord Grey was now amongst others a marked man. Cromwell had spies kept upon him, under orders from his ‘Spymaster General’, John Thurloe. In 1655 he was arrested at Bradgate on the Lord Protector’s orders for his opposition to the Protectorate and for his former sympathy with the Levellers. Men from all over the country, both active and retired politicians, were being arrested. Grey manage to secure his own release only on payment of a large amount of money to Cromwell and his guarantee of his future political inactivity. In 1656 he stood again as candidate for MP of Leicester, but with Cromwell’s mark now against him, he failed to be elected.

Fifth Monarchists

With the country very unstable and Grey now declared head of a group called the ‘Fifth Monarchists’, Cromwell knew that he was a real threat to his position. The Fifth Monarchists were a large sect in the 1650s who believed from reading the books of Daniel and Revelations in the imminent second coming of Christ, for which they must urgently prepare the world. Using these interpretations of the Old Testament, the execution of Charles I was the sign for the establishment of Christ’s imminent second coming and of a ‘New Kingdom’.

Peculiar as these ideas may sound today, they fell in line with those held by many in the mid 17th century. But due to all this speculation and instability, Grey’s connection with the Fifth Monarchists gave Cromwell a reason to act against him. Now too powerful a threat to ignore, Grey was put under house arrest for a second time at Windsor Castle. It was during this time (between 4th April and 8th May 1657) that he died at the age of 34, probably of gout.

The Restoration

Only two years after the death of his son, the Earl of Stamford and other Parliamentarians turned to the Royalist cause, aware of the imminence of Charles II’s restoration. Following the Restoration Col. Francis Hacker was executed for his actions and assistance in Charles I’s death. Many regicides were hung, drawn and quartered. It was better that Lord Grey had died: had he lived, the same would have happened to him. His father also managed to use his influence to prevent the exhumation of his son’s body; many deceased regicides such as Cromwell, Ireton and Bradshaw were exhumed and mutilated.

On the death of the first Earl of Stamford in 1673, Lord Grey’s son Thomas became the second Earl of Stamford.

Summary

Lord Grey from the start of his adult life had been involved in either war or in politics. From being Lord General of the Midland Association for around three years to being governor and MP for Leicester, he led a colourful and busy life. It is often said that, “The winners write the history books”; this was to be the case of Grey. Cromwell considered him a major threat to his Protectorate and for this reason said little of Grey’s involvement in the Civil Wars or in the new Commonwealth in his memoirs. Grey was described by C H Firth as, “one of the most loyal and thoroughgoing supporters of the Republic”. Edmund Ludlow, his comrade in arms, described him as “one who has always manifested a constant affection to the Commonwealth”. Noble also said of Lord Grey and his father, “The Earl of Stamford never made any distinguished figure on the field; that was reserved for his son”.

J Richards in his study of Lord Grey of Groby stated, “Some later historians have devalued his role generally, but those who have investigated him more thoroughly have often produced a different judgement. It is time that the role played by this illustrious son of Leicestershire in the momentous events of the great rebellion era was rescued from neglect and brought to the attention of a wider public both within and beyond the confines of that county”.

References

• Calendar of State Papers, domestic series, 1629-31
• Collins Peerage of England Vol. III
• C.S.P.D., 1631-3 1635-6 Historical Manuscripts Commission
• Victoria County History, Leicestershire, Vol. II
• Battle Atlas of the Civil War, Anthony Baker
• Records Office of Leicestershire and Rutland
• The Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society Transactions - Vol LVI 1980-81 Vol LXII 1988
• Clarendon State Papers, Vol.11, p.150
• Dictionary of National Biography, Vol. XXIII
• David Fleming, MA dissertation (unpublished)
• Royal Progress and Visits to Leicester, W Kelly 1884
• The Complete Peerage (1953 edition), Vol. XII
• The History and Antiquities of the County of Leicester Vol.III Part II, John Nichols
• History of the Great Rebellio,n Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon (W D MacRay 1888)
• History of the Great Civil War Vol.I, S L Gardiner
• Lives of the English Regicides, Rev. Mark Noble, London 1798
• Mercurius Brittanicus 1642
• The Clarke Papers, C H Firth Camden Society - Puritanism and Liberty 1938
• Remarkable Passages from Leicester 1642, Nichols
• Journal of the House of Lords Vol. VI
• Journal of the House of Commons Vol. III
• Denzil Holles’ Memoirs, 1815
• House of Lords Journal, The Grand Rob Carrier - Gen. Hastings 1634/1644
• The Civil War in Leicestershire and Rutland, Philip Scaybrook
• Oliver Cromwell's Speeches and Letters, Chapman & Hall, London 1888
• Pride’s Purge, David Underdown
• The Parliament Scout, 1644 No 61 - Civil Strife in the Midlands, R E Sherwood
• The Stuart Age, Barry Coward
• Only in Heaven, Barry Denton
• Memoirs of the Life of Col. Hutchinson, Lucy Hutchinson (Everyman)
• Borough of Leicester Records 1603-89

Glad To Be Grey!

In May 1999 Lord Grey’s Regiment of Foote of the Sealed Knot came into being at Sudeley Castle. Despite the awful weather, the soldiers of Lord Grey’s felt a sense of pride and achievement that over two years of effort had paid off by finally achieving regimental status.

Lord Grey’s Sealed Knot Regiment is mainly based in Leicestershire, with members also from Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire and Cambridgeshire, almost mirroring Grey’s 17th century command of the Midland Association.

In 1643 Rockingham Castle in Northamptonshire was attacked by Lord Grey’s Parliamentarian forces, and the Royalist Watson family surrendered. 365 years later Lord Grey’s men (and women) were again attacking Rockingham Castle as the Sealed Knot re-enacted the event (organised by Lord Robartes’ Regiment) in July 1999.