Sir William Grey KCSI (1818 – 15 May 1878) was an English administrator of the East India Company in India. He served as Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal from 1867 and later as Governor of Jamaica . Early life and education Grey was born in 1818, the fourth son of The Hon. Edward Grey , Bishop of Hereford, and Charlotte Croft. His paternal grandfather was Charles Grey, 1st Earl Grey . [ 1 ] His paternal uncle was, therefore, Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey (1764–1845), Prime Minister. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] Grey studied at Christ Church, Oxford , [ 2 ] but did not complete studies and joined the War Office as a clerk. [ 1 ] Nominated to work in the Bengal civil service , he entered Haileybury College in January 1839 and passed out in July 1840. [ 1 ] During his first term, he was suspended for late night parties in his room but made up for it in later terms. [ 1 ] Grey went to Bengal in 1840 and worked for a while in various offices before becoming a private secretary to the deputy governor, Sir Herbert Maddock in 1845. [ 1 ] In 1851, he became secretary of the Bank of Bengal . [ 1 ] He became a secretary to the government of Bengal in 1854. [ 1 ] He went on furlough to England in January 1857 but was forced back by the rebellion in that year. [ 1 ] He was appointed director general of the post office in 1859 after holding various temporary offices. [ 1 ] In 1862, he became a member of the council of the governor-general of Bengal. [ 2 ] In 1867, he succeeded Sir Cecil Beadon to become lieutenant-governor of Bengal . [ 2 ] [ 1 ] As an administrator, he opposed excessive centralization and helped decentralise the postal department. He opposed the application of income-tax rules in India. He often held opposing views to those of the governor-general Sir John Lawrence . [ 1 ] He felt that the use of land cess to support education was unjust to the landholders. His position did not find favour with Lord Mayo . He was made Knight Commander of The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India in the 1870 Birthday Honours . [ 3 ] He retired in 1871 [ 1 ] and returned to England. In 1874, he was appointed Governor of Jamaica . [ 1 ] [ 4 ] He served as governor until 1877. [ 2 ] Death and personal life Grey died on 15 May 1878, his estate proven by probate. [ 5 ] He was married in 1865 to Georgina (Nina) Chichele Plowden, daughter of Trevor John Chichele Plowden. [ 1 ] They had two daughters: the eldest of whom, Sybil Frances (1867-1945), married Sir William Eden, 7th Bart. and was mother to Anthony Eden ; while Dorothy Evelyn (1875-1951) was married to Viscount Selby . [ 1 ]

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Arbuthnot, Alexander John Arbuthnot. "Grey, William (1818-1878)". Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 23 . pp. 216– 218. 1 2 3 4 5 "Obituary: Sir William Grey" . The Newcastle Weekly Courant . May 24, 1878. p. 4 . Retrieved 26 November 2025 – via newspapers.com . ↑ "Order of the Star of India Appointments" . The London Gazette . No. 23620. 31 May 1870. p. 2787. ↑ "Colonial appointments" . The London Gazette (24076): 1692. 17 March 1874. ↑ "Probate Notice for the Estate of Sir William Grey KCSI" . The London Gazette . No. 24604. 12 July 1878. p. 4121. Lieutenant-governors of Bengal Knights Commander of the Order of the Star of India Articles with short description Short description is different from Wikidata