King Tree

Grey, Henry George Grey, 3rd
Earl,

also called (1806-45) VISCOUNT HOWICK (b. Dec. 28, 1802, Howick,
Northumberland, Eng.--d. Oct. 9, 1894, Howick), British statesman
who, as secretary of state for war and the colonies (1846-52),
became the first British minister to pursue a policy of
self-government for the colonies, so far as it then seemed possible.

A member of the House of Commons from 1826 to 1845, Grey
subsequently was Whig leader in the House of Lords. During the prime
ministry of his father, the 2nd Earl Grey, he served as undersecretary
of state for the colonies (1830-33), and later (1835-39) he was
secretary at war. After his resignation in 1852 he never again held
office.

Striving to introduce free trade into relations between Great Britain
and her colonies, Grey was mainly successful in Canada. There his
appointment of the 8th Earl of Elgin as governor general (an office
later held by his nephew, the 4th Earl Grey), and his subsequent
support of Elgin's policies, led to the first British recognition (in the
late 1840s) of local self-government. His constitution for New
Zealand, in contrast, proved unworkable, as did his attempt to settle
convicts in the Cape Colony (South Africa).