Still a teenager, her reign lasted just nine days and her life came to an end in the most brutal of circumstances only seven months later. Lady Jane Grey’s tragic story has captured the imagination ever since, not least here in Leicester where she is believed to have spent much of her early life.
Although the exact details regarding her date and place of birth remain unknown, it's thought that Lady Grey was born at Bradgate House in Leicester during the early autumn of 1537. As visitors to Bradgate Park will know, the ruins of her childhood home remain there today.
The Grey family’s association with Bradgate Park began in the mid-1400s through marriage into the prosperous Ferrers family. During the early 1500s, Sir Thomas Grey oversaw the construction of a grand red-brick manor house on the estate and Bradgate House became home to the family for over two centuries.
With the marriage, in 1533, of Sir Thomas Grey’s son, Henry, to Lady Frances Brandon – the niece of Henry VIII. The status of the ambitious Grey family rose another level. The Grey’s were now moving in the highest of royal circles. The couple’s eldest daughter, Lady Jane Grey, was born around four years later.
She spent her early years at Bradgate House, receiving an education worthy of a young girl of high social standing. Despite her importance in English history, the real Lady Grey has remained a shadowy and inaccessible figure, so much has been made of an interesting account of a visit to Bradgate by a scholar named Roger Ascham.
He portrays the young Jane as a school girl prodigy, who prefers to stay at home alone reading Plato’s Phaedrorather than joining the rest of the household on a hunting trip. The next part of Ascham’s account however is perhaps the most revealing.
“Severe” parenting
Lady Grey is reported to have complained about the cruel way in which she is treated by her parents, commenting: “One of the greatest benefits that God ever gave me is that he sent me so sharp and severe parents and so gentle a schoolmaster.”
Ascham’s notorious account was written years after the event as part of a treatise on education, in which he advocated a softer approach to teaching children than was the norm at the time. Contrasting the behaviour of her “severe” parents with that of her “gentle” teacher fits perfectly into this narrative. Nevertheless, this passage has frequently been used over the years as evidence of the coldness of the Grey’s towards their eldest daughter.
Marriage
As Lady Grey approached her teenage years, the focus was already turning from education to the question of suitable marriage. Jane’s parents had every justification for aiming high with regard to potential suitors for their eldest daughter. Following Henry VIII’s death in 1547, his young son, Edward, succeeded to the throne. More significantly for Jane’s future prospects, under the terms of the late King’s will, Jane was now third in the line of succession behind Edward’s half sisters, Mary and Elizabeth.
Initially, her parents may well have set their sights on the ultimate prize, hoping to marry her off to the king himself, but, in early 1553, Edward fell seriously ill – likely tuberculosis. However, throughout Edward’s reign, a power struggle had been developing behind the scenes between different factions of the royal circle.
By 1553, John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, was effectively acting as the power behind the throne. With the ailing king off the list of potential marriage partners for Lady Grey, the ambitious Dudley was quick to act and secured the engagement of one of his own sons to the high-ranking young noble. Lady Grey was betrothed to the Duke of Northumberland’s fourth son, Guildford, in April 1553 and the couple married just a month later.
Several near contemporary reports exist outlining the parental pressure placed on Lady Grey to go through with the marriage. The young teenage girl would have had no say in the matter and probably barely met her future husband before the big day. The wedding at Northumberland’s house on the Strand is said to have been a grand affair, although some guests, including the bridegroom, were reported to have suffered from food poisoning as a result of eating a dodgy salad.
Within six weeks, King Edward VI was dead.
The nine-day queen
Three days later, on 9 July 1553, Lady Grey was told that the late king had named her his successor in his will. She is famously reported to have fainted on being told the news. Her new father-in-law may well have had a hand in persuading Edward to name Lady Grey as his successor, playing on the staunchly protestant king’s fears that should his Catholic half sister, Mary, become queen, she would overturn his religious reforms.
On the following day Lady Grey and her entourage made the symbolic gesture of formally entering the Tower of London, where new monarchs traditionally resided until the time of their coronation. It soon became apparent, however, that Dudley had grossly underestimated the level of support for Mary, especially in London itself. She wasted no time in lodging her own claim to the throne and, just nine days later, Mary was proclaimed queen amid great rejoicing in the capital.
Soon afterwards, Lady Grey and her husband were escorted from the royal apartments to separate prisons within the Tower of London precincts. Lady Grey only left her prison in the tower once, to attend trial with her husband at London’s Guildhall in November of the same year. They were both found guilty of treason and sentenced to death. Mary initially granted them a reprieve, but Lady Grey’s position remained extremely tenuous. The queen’s supporters continued to view her as a potential threat, as, while she remained alive, she could be used as a figurehead for any protestant uprising.
Matters came to a head early the following year when news broke of Wyatt’s rebellion. The list of conspirators included Lady Grey’s father.
Even though Jane was not involved in the plot, Mary ordered her execution.
On 12February 1554, the young girl met her end bravely on Tower Green, a victim of the executioner’s axe. Legend has it that the tops of the oak trees in Bradgate Park were “beheaded” by local foresters to mark her passing.
The Greys continued to live at Bradgate House until the early part of the 18th century, following which the family permanently moved out, and the house was left to decay. Earlier this year, the Bradgate Park Trust was awarded a Historic England grant to help preserve the ruins of Bradgate House for future generations to enjoy and study.
This represents an exciting new chapter in the history of the property that was once home to one of English history’s most tragic stories.
