Henry Gray, 3rd Baron Gray of Codnor

Henry Gray, 3rd Baron Gray of Codnor (according to another count also 6th Baron Gray of Codnor ) (* around 1404, † July 14, 1444 ) was an English nobleman.

Henry Gray was a younger son of Richard Gray, 1st Baron Gray of Codnor and his wife Elizabeth Basset. After the childless death of his older brother John , he inherited the family's estates in 1430, including Codnor Castle in Derbyshire and other scattered estates in England. In Derbyshire, Gray was involved in numerous feuds , most notably with Richard Vernon. Vernon was a vassal of Gray, but a heated argument broke out between the two when the candidates for the 1433 general election were being drawn up. At the congregation meeting, Gray appeared in Derby with 200 followers on June 24 , but Vernon appeared the following day with his allied Sir John Cockayne and an even larger number of followers. With their support, they were both elected Knight of the Shire against Gray's express request . This dispute was exacerbated by the open conflict between Sir Henry Pierrepont and Thomas Foljambes , with Gray being a supporter of Pierrepont while Vernon supported the Foljambes family. The judicial process that was started because of the feud ended without judgment, whereupon Gray, Vernon and Cocykanye sought a settlement around 1437. However, these and other feuds resulted in Gray going to the Tower of London in 1440 . He then gave his cattle and movable property to John Holland, Earl of Huntingdon and other nobles. In 1441 he leased most of his property to the Duke of Gloucester for five years . He had to deposit 1,000 marks as security that he would keep the peace in the future, and was pardoned in 1441 and again in 1442. He was then able to get at least part of his goods back into his possession. In 1442 he headed a committee to raise funds for the king in Nottinghamshire .

Family and offspring

Before May 5, 1434, Gray had married Margaret Percy, the second daughter of Sir Henry Percy of Atholl and Elizabeth Bardolf. With her he had a son:

• Henry de Gray, 4th Baron Gray of Codnor (around 1435–1496)

Ten days before his death, he gave Ralph Basset his Radcliffe estate, apparently in an attempt to prevent the king from taking over the guardianship of his underage son. After his death, his widow married Sir Richard Vere , a younger son of John de Vere, 12th Earl of Oxford . Gray is also sometimes considered the father of William Gray , who later became Bishop of Ely. However, this was a son of Thomas Gray from Heaton.

Web links

• Sir Henry de Gray, 3rd Lord Gray (of Codnor) on thepeerage.com , accessed June 22, 2016.
• Cracroft's Peerage: Gray (of Codnor), Baron (E, 1397)

Individual evidence

1. ^ History of Parliament Online: VERNON, Sir Richard (1390-1451), of Harlaston, Staffs. and Haddon, Derbies. Retrieved June 22, 2016 . 
2. ↑ Magnus Alexander, Jonathan Millward: Codnor Castle. Earthwork Analysis, Suryey Report. English Heritage, 2008, p. 9. (pdf file, 3.76 MB) (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on July 28, 2011 ; accessed on June 22, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
3. ^ Roy Martin Haines: Gray, William (c.1414–1478). In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Harrison (Eds.): Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , from the earliest times to the year 2000 (ODNB). Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-861411-X , ( oxforddnb.com license required ), as of 2004

predecessor	Office	successor
John Gray	Baron Gray of Codnor 1430-1444	Henry Gray