GREY, SIR GEORGE EDWARD (1812-98) was born at Lisbon on 14 Apr 1812, a few days after the death of his father, Lieut-colonel Grey, of the 30th Foot, at the battle of Badajoz. The family were a branch of the Greys of Groby, represented in the peerage by the Earl of Stamford. Grey was educated at Guildford, Surrey, and in 1826 entered Sandhurst, from which he gained his ensigncy in the 83rd Foot. (Ensign 1829; lieutenant 1833; captain 1836.) He served with his regiment at Glasgow and then for four years in Ireland. There he was deeply impressed by the condition of the working classes, and became imbued with ideas on land tenure which were expressed in his later political liberalism.

In 1833 Grey entered the senior department of the Royal Military College, from which he passed out in 1836 with a certificate from the governors showing that he had not only acquitted himself with the highest credit in the examinations but had 'extended his acquirements far beyond its limits into the highest branches of mathematical science' and showed 'a superior merit and talents.' This achievement gained him his captaincy. He was already losing interest in the army as a profession and being drawn towards exploring. In 1836, with Lieut. Lushington, of the 9th Foot, he proposed to the Colonial Office to undertake an exploration in western Australia to ascertain the existence or otherwise of a great river, or ocean inlet, north of the Swan river. The proposal was endorsed by Lord Glenelg and had the approval of the Royal Geographical Society. Accordingly, on 5 Jul 1837 the small expedition, with Grey in command, sailed from Plymouth in H.M.S. Beagle. On arrival at Capetown Grey hired the schooner Lynher, 150 tons, purchased 31 sheep, 19 goats and 6 dogs, and with a party of 12 men sailed on 29 Nov for Australia. They anchored in St George bay on 2 Dec, and Grey made a short preliminary expedition while the Lynher under Lushington went to Timor for ponies. Grey encountered great hardships and difficulties. He lost his dogs owing to the heat and, finding himself cut off from the schooner by a wide arm of the sea, swam to the other side, only to find himself surrounded by hostile natives. Naked and exhausted, he took advantage of the darkness to hide in a cave and was taken off the following morning by the Lynher. After recruiting his strength Grey made important journeys into the interior, passing round the end of the Macdonald range, discovering and naming Mount Lyall and the Glenelg river (4 Mar 1838), which he explored for a distance of 70 miles. He found vast tracts of fertile pasture land, upon which he rested and recuperated the strength of his surviving ponies - several had been lost in the rugged ravines of the river bed. Grey was severely wounded in the thigh in an engagement with natives, and on 4 Apr his party turned back. Exhausted by heat, hunger and rough travelling, they were picked up by the Lynher and Beagle on 15 Apr, and on the 27th they sailed for Mauritius to recover their strength. While there, Grey reported his explorations to England. On 21 Aug he sailed for the Swan river to consult with Sir James Stirling. While he was awaiting despatches from the Colonial Office, he made one or two minor expeditions.

On 17 Feb 1839, with a party of 11 white men, he sailed for Shark bay, taking three whaleboats in the hope that he would be able to explore the whole length of coast. On 25 Feb they landed on Bernier island, where they lost one of the whaleboats in a gale shortly afterwards. Grey and Dr Walker swam off and baled out the others to save them from swamping. On 5 Mar they discovered the Gascoyne river, and, returning to Bernier island, they found that their depot had been almost destroyed and most of their provisions were gone. It was imperative that they should reach civilisation as soon as possible. They accordingly set sail for the south. On reaching Gantheaume river both boats were upset in the breakers and it was necessary to continue the journey of 300 miles to Perth on foot. In the first week they covered only 70 miles. Provisions running short, Grey decided to divide the party, and he led the advance guard, consisting of himself and four others. On 11 Apr they crossed the Arrowsmith river. They suffered much from heat, hunger and thirst, and Grey was hampered by his wound. Struggling doggedly on, the others fell out and Grey, assisted by friendly blacks, staggered into Perth on 21 Apr. He had travelled the whole distance in three weeks. He lost no time in equipping a relief party by which the survivors were brought in.

While recuperating his strength and awaiting instructions from London, Grey devoted himself to the study of native dialects and customs, and with that object accepted the post of government resident at King George's sound (Aug 1839), where the duties were mainly connected with the natives. While there he married Eliza Lucy, daughter of his predecessor, Captain (afterwards Admiral Sir) R. W. Spencer, R.N. Despatches from the Colonial Office indicated that it did not favour a continuance of the explorations to the north-westward, so Grey concluded his service in western Australia and sailed for England from Adelaide (11 Apr 1840). On the voyage he prepared his memorandum for Lord John Russell on the best means of promoting the civilisation of the natives. Reaching England in Sep, he had not completed his book for publication when he was offered the governorship of South Australia.

He sold his captain's commission and sailed at once, reaching Adelaide on 14 May 1841.

Grey found the colony bankrupt, the town unduly large, and a great number of people receiving relief from public funds. He made drastic cuts in all forms of expenditure, encouraged bona fide squatting, and used the revenues so derived for road-making and surveys. Within three years the area under cultivation increased from 2,500 acres to 28,760 acres and the rural population from 6,121 to 11,259, with a corresponding shrinkage in that of Adelaide. Copper discoveries at Burra Burra helped to overcome the depression. Grey took the opportunity in South Australia of putting into effect some of his proposals for the civilisation of the natives. He extended the Queen's law to all within the colony, encouraged native education and, through the appointment of protectors, controlled the relations of settlers with the natives. In this service he stationed E. J. Eyre (q.v.) at a settlement called Moorundee, specially charged with guarding the welfare of blacks coming into contact with overlanders and squatters. As the result of his policy of firmness and justice, Grey was able to report in 1844 that the tribes on the Murray and Darling were perfectly amicable and well disposed. His methods were fully approved by the Colonial Office.

Intelligence from New Zealand, meanwhile, indicated that FitzRoy's administration was not successful. The Colonial Office, alarmed at the tension between natives and whites, turned naturally to Grey as the man most likely, in spite of his youth, to cope with the situation. Meanwhile Grey, hearing of the outbreak of hostilities at Bay of Islands, on his own responsibility loaded into a vessel which had called at Adelaide all the munitions he could spare for the use of the New Zealand Government. A few days later he received a despatch from the Colonial Office appointing him Lieutenant-governor of New Zealand, and instructing him to repair at once to that post. He landed at Auckland on 18 Nov 1845 and proceeded without delay to Bay of Islands. At Kororareka he found the military (consisting of about 670 of all ranks of the 58th and 99th Regiments) strengthening their position on the tip of the peninsula, while hostile natives were moving about freely on the opposite side of the bay.

He at once announced his intention of advancing against the enemy position. On the 28th he met in conference the friendly chiefs (led by Tamati Waka Nene, q.v.) whom he assured of the determination of the British Government to respect the Treaty of Waitangi and to forbid the alienation of native lands without the full consent of all concerned. He invited Heke and Kawiti to accept the terms of peace offered by FitzRoy. Kawiti was inclined to agree, but was overborne by the younger man. Grey accordingly lost no time in moving the troops towards the enemy positions. An ordinance was passed forbidding traffic in arms and ammunition. Friendly natives were enrolled under European officers; and a small force was despatched to hold Heke while Kawiti's stronghold at Ruapekapeka was invested by a force of 1,173 British and 450 native troops. The siege began on 31 Dec 1845, and on 10 Jan, the palisade having been sufficiently breached by the artillery, the pa was stormed and occupied. This broke the resistance of the enemy. Grey had been in the field throughout, he had directed the operations more or less over the heads of the naval and military leaders, and the decisive part he had played raised his prestige with the natives, who were flattered by the manner in which he deferred to the advice of Tamati Waka Nene. A few months later he exhibited the same combination of strategy, firmness and daring in the southern district. In the operations against Rangihaeata, Grey took the precaution of seizing Te Rauparaha and holding him prisoner on suspicion of aiding and abetting the rising. A few months later he was called upon (Apr 1847) to suppress a native outbreak in the Whanganui district, where some whites were murdered. The river was blockaded and the withholding of supplies of food and tobacco materially assisted to bring the hostile natives to terms, for which they sued on 21 Feb 1848. Grey had rapidly acquired great mana with the Maori. He had now a command of the language, had made many friends amongst the chiefs by rewards for loyalty, and gained their confidence by safeguarding their lands; by employing native labour on roads; by prohibiting the sale of arms and drink to natives; by establishing savings banks, and inaugurating a simpler form of native judicial institutions; by subsidising schools and hospitals and giving assistance in many forms of material improvement. He took a deep interest in Maori philology, literature and traditions, and made a valuable collection (which later he presented to the Auckland Public Library). Taking advantage of his leisure to study the land question, he condemned the alienation of native lands and denounced the land proclamations, which in his opinion favoured the speculator as against the genuine settler.

Throughout most of the latter part of 1846 and the whole of 1847 he devoted much attention to the proposed constitution (his views being set forth in important despatches of 7 Oct 1846 and 3 and 13 May 1847). Before the latter reached England the Colonial Secretary had sent his despatch of 1 Jun enclosing a copy of the proposed bill, and a few weeks later (7 Jul) the royal charter relating thereto. The royal charter Grey felt did not sufficiently safeguard Maori rights over land and, supported by the protest of Bishop Selwyn and the opinions of the Chief Justice (Martin) and the Attorney-general (Swainson), he suspended it indefinitely, stating his reasons to the British Government. On 1 Jan 1848 Grey assumed office as Governor-in-chief of New Zealand, and during that year he was knighted. The investiture took place on 18 Nov, Sir George being supported by two Maori esquires. He also had conferred upon him by Oxford University the honorary degree of D.C.L. The delays entailed in long-distance discussion with the Colonial Office of the proposed new constitution made the settlers impatient. A Constitutional Association was formed to demand representative government, and petitions were widely signed asking for the recall of the Governor. Grey made himself unpopular also with the missionaries, whom he accused of land-grabbing. Meanwhile, on behalf of the government he had bought the native interest in lands in the South Island which were required for the Otago and Canterbury settlements, and the first settlers had arrived and established themselves (1848 and 1850). Grey had a heavy correspondence in connection with these two colonies and the affairs of the New Zealand Company, which had to be provided for in the constitution owing to the surrender of its charters. The Canterbury Association negotiated with the British Government directly, and its supporters accused Grey of being hostile to it. The Godley letters and Grey's speeches in the Legislative Council bear on this. His treatment of Lieutenant-governor Eyre (q.v.) was used by his critics as an aggravation of his offence in suspending the constitution act, and appointments made by him to the nominated legislative council did nothing to appease their anger.

The Imperial Parliament had already passed the constitution act granting representative institutions to New Zealand when Grey's own Legislative Council enacted a provincial councils ordinance (Jul 1852). On 16 Jul Sir John Pakington wrote his despatch enclosing the new act. On 13 Sep Grey assumed the governorship under this measure. In Jan 1853 he proclaimed the provincial districts, and on 12 Aug he was able to inform the Secretary of State that the Act was in satisfactory operation. Certain delays occurred which served to confirm critics in the belief that Grey was unfavourable to representative government and did not wish to see it inaugurated. The first provincial councils were elected (in Auckland) on 4 Aug 1853, and the first session of a council (in Taranaki) commenced on 16 Sep. Grey left the colony on 31 Dec without seeing the General Assembly convened. In 1853 Grey, in company with Selwyn, visited many of the Pacific islands in the government brig Victoria. Finding the French in possession of New Caledonia, he warned the British Government of the dangers likely to arise in the future, and put forward a proposal for a federation of Pacific races under the aegis of New Zealand. As Premier (1878) he reverted to the dangers of the French occupation of the New Hebrides, and five years later he carried in Parliament a bill to enable New Zealand to establish federal relations with such Pacific peoples as might desire them. In the eighties he was consulted by Samoan chiefs as to their future. He published in 1885 a pamphlet on German colonisation and the Samoan negotiations.

Grey's new post was the governorship of Cape Colony, together with the high commissionership of South Africa. Arriving there early in 1854, he found conditions existing which seemed to resemble closely the state of native affairs in New Zealand, and within three weeks of his arrival he outlined his plan of campaign. His chief problem throughout was in connection with the eastern frontier, where the Basuto were at variance with their neighbours, the Dutch farmers of the Orange Free State. Grey's reputation as a native administrator had reached South Africa, and he lost no time in applying the same policy of firmness and justice, with a humane regard for the social welfare and education of the native. He established hospitals and schools, attached loyal chiefs to him by tactful consideration and rewards, and arrested troublesome ones. When whole tribes were threatened with extinction by famine, he found employment for 34,000 individuals with white employers throughout the colony. He proposed to protect the border districts by establishing a force of army pensioner settlers, and, this being impracticable, he settled in south Africa many members of the German legion which had been enlisted for the Crimea. Grey's relations with the Boer states were cordial and trustful, the Dutch people in South Africa having a great regard for his courage and resource. He broached at an early stage the desirability of all the European colonies in South Africa entering into a federal union. The troubles of Free State with the Kafirs promoted this movement. At the desire of the Free State, Grey mediated with the Basuto, and with great pertinacity followed Moshesh to his stronghold at Thaba Bosigo and obtained his signature to a treaty (1855). It was not well observed, and before long war broke out. When the Free State asked for help against the Basuto, Grey declined either to assist or to permit the enlistment of colonists in the forces of the republic, but after the defeat of the Boers he offered his services as a mediator and helped the Boers to conclude a new peace treaty (15 Oct 1858). Meanwhile he was in treaty with them with a view to forming a South African federation. Writing to the Colonial Secretary on 24 Jun, he expressed his firm conviction that 'nothing but a strong federal government, which unites within itself all European races in South Africa, can permanently maintain peace in this country and free Great Britain from constant anxiety for the peace of her possessions here.' To this Henry Labouchere explicitly declared that such federation was no part of the policy of the British Government. Grey was fearful of the two Boer Governments coming together and so forming an obstacle to future federation under the British flag, and he lost no opportunity of promoting his project. On his suggestion the Free State Volksraad passed resolutions favouring federation with the Cape Colony, and Grey submitted these to the Cape Parliament at its meeting in Mar 1859. Before Parliament had time to come to a decision he received a peremptory despatch from the Colonial Secretary ordering him to drop the federal scheme. When Lord Lytton discovered how far he had proceeded in face of the official ban he hastily recalled Grey from his post (4 Jun 1859). In the light of subsequent events Grey's vision would seem to have been sound, but (as Professor E. A. Walker says) he was years ahead of his time. To the regret of both Dutch and British settlers and of the natives whose welfare he had so jealously promoted, Grey left for England. Before he reached Home there was a change of government. The new administration reinstated him in his governorship, and he returned to South Africa, but he had instructions from the Duke of Newcastle not to persevere with his federal scheme. He understood that an appointment in Canada would follow at an early date, but events in New Zealand were again to turn his steps in this direction. Another incident of Grey's South African administration requires to be noticed. In 1857 he received a despatch from Lord Elphinstone informing him of the outbreak of mutiny amongst native troops in India, and suggesting that he might be able to assist. Grey acted with great promptitude and courage. Within three days he had collected all the available troops in Capetown and arranged for their transportation to India, together with £60,000 worth of specie and every horse that could be spared even from his own stables. The 93rd Regiment arrived from England at that moment en route to join the forces engaged in China. Grey insisted on diverting it to India, and so by a happy accident was able, in the words of Lord Malmesbury, 'probably to save India.' While South Africa was denuded of troops he astutely balanced the loyalties of the native peoples and preserved peace. Grey made a deep study of the languages and customs of the native races in South Africa, and here also he collected literature in ethnology and philology which at a later date he presented to the Cape Library. In his solicitude for the natives he employed Dr J. P. Fitzgerald (q.v.), who had co-operated with him in the establishment of native hospitals in New Zealand. He enlisted the services also of the French missionaries, and was a close friend of the missionary explorers Robert Moffat and David Livingstone.

When Grey set foot again in New Zealand (Oct 1861) he found a very unhappy conflict between the two races. The Taranaki war had been fought to a truce, but certainly not to a conclusion, and the northern tribes were gravely disaffected. Grey at once examined the evidence in the Waitara purchase and, with the concurrence of the ministry, decided that the transaction was invalid and should be reversed. He was under no misapprehension as to the extent of native disaffection, and adopted his usual energetic methods of coping with the problem. Every opportunity was seized of becoming personally acquainted with the tribes and making friends of the best chiefs; schools and roads were built, and a scheme of administration devised for the benefit of purely native districts. Theoretically the Governor no longer had full control over native administration, and Grey was not always in unison with his ministry, but on the whole they co-operated cordially enough, both desiring peace without more bloodshed. It was partly politics that prevented Fox and Grey from making permanent an understanding they had come to for the management of native affairs, making it appear that the Governor and Premier were at loggerheads. That this was not so is evident from Grey's despatch to the Duke of Newcastle (14 Jul 1862): "I am anxious to assure you that my responsible advisers have in all cases given me the most liberal and generous support, for which I shall always feel very grateful to them. Undoubtedly differences of opinion have on a few occasions arisen between us, but these have been made the subject of full and fair discussion and no difficulty has ever been found in following some course which I believe was quite satisfactory and conducive to the good of Her Majesty's Government." Meanwhile Newcastle was penning a despatch expressing his firm resolve that the Colonial Government should assume full responsibility for the conduct of native affairs. While these two despatches were on the water Fox brought on a debate on native policy. The object was merely to affirm the advisability of such an arrangement, but it was debated as a no-confidence resolution. The House was evenly divided; the Speaker gave his vote against the Government, and Fox went out of office. Within a short time Newcastle's despatch arrived, completely perplexing the new Government, which had taken office pledged to maintain Imperial control of native affairs. The agreement under which Fox and Grey had cooperated was then affirmed by the House (on 14 Aug 1862) in the following terms: "1. That ministers should, in conformity with the Royal Instructions, advise the Governor in Native affairs as well as in Colonial affairs whenever his Excellency desires to obtain such advice, and should also tender advice on all occasions of importance when they deem it their duty in the interests of the Colony to do so. 2. That ministers should at his Excellency's request undertake the administration of native affairs, reserving to his Excellency the decision in all matters of native policy. 3. That as the decision in all matters of native policy is with his Excellency, the advice of ministers shall not be held to bind the Colony to any liability, past or future, in connection with native affairs beyond the amount authorised, or to be authorised, by the House of Representatives."

While doing his utmost to avoid hostilities, Grey recognised the deep grievances of the inland tribes especially, and pushed ahead with roads from Auckland into the Waikato, believing that they might serve to prevent war; or, if war came, that they would enable him to prosecute it with vigour. Though he often sided with Maori against pakeha, his sympathies were strongly with the colonists in their dispute with the British Government over military assistance and the control of native affairs. When the Waikato war broke out in 1863 Grey was not caught unawares. He had already obtained reinforcements from Australia and Great Britain and India, and was able to begin the campaign with some thousands of men in the field. Once embarked on the undertaking, he determined to push the war to a successful conclusion as soon as possible, and was impatient of the deliberation shown by some of the British officers commanding in the field. His disputes with General Cameron were unseemly, but not altogether avoidable. Though disruptive of discipline and tending to widen the gap already evident between Grey and his superiors in Downing street, they did lead in the long run to a prompter conclusion of the war. When, for instance, Cameron declined, with the ample force at his command, to storm the native position at Weraroa (West Coast) Grey directed the attack with a force of Colonial soldiers and friendly natives and took the position with the loss of one man. His faith in the efficiency of the settlers was not misplaced, and it strengthened him in his correspondence with the Colonial Office. The tone which he employed in that correspondence was, however, not judicious, and it certainly helped to widen the estrangement. As a result, on 18 Jun 1867, when the war was entering on its most acute stage, Grey was informed that when his term as governor expired a successor would be appointed. The curtness and the peremptory tone of the despatch gave the impression that he was in disgrace, and the feeling prevailed in New Zealand that he had been sacrificed owing to his advocacy of the rights and point of view of the colonists. Sir George Bowen arrived to relieve him in Mar 1868, and Grey proceeded to London in some hope of having it out with the Colonial Secretary. The Manchester school of political thought was now in the ascendant, and Mr Gladstone received Grey with some cordiality, but without any assurance of further employment. It is not certain that Grey wished for this, though he subsequently complained of the manner in which he had been discarded. He paid a series of visits to English towns, and gave addresses on Colonial Affairs and Liberalism as they appeared to him. He was invited to stand for several seats in the House of Commons, but when he announced his candidature for Newark in the Liberal interest Gladstone made it clear that the Liberals did not want him officially. He stood as an independent, but on the representation of Gladstone he agreed to waive his right in favour of Sir Henry Storks, and he withdrew on the morning of the poll. Grey's platform at this time included a general denunciation of the Little England school and the views of Goldwin Smith; closer union with the colonies; state-aided emigration; the electoral ballot; reclamation of waste lands; and free education. In England during the period 1868-70 he spoke and wrote vigorously on these topics.

In 1871 Grey returned to New Zealand and took up his residence on his island home of Kawau, where for a time he lived contentedly with the obvious intention of devoting his time to study, collecting books and objects of interest in Polynesian art, and planting native and exotic shrubs in his beautiful gardens. In 1874 the question of the abolition of the provinces was assuming an acute character. In Auckland, which was still smarting under the added injustice of having been robbed of the seat of government, feeling ran so high that it was hopeless for any candidate to come forward whose loyalty to the provinces was in doubt. Throughout 1874 Auckland politicians looked expectantly towards Kawau for leadership. Events moved quickly in 1875. On the resignation of T. B. Gillies a vacancy occurred in Parliament for Auckland City West. A deputation was being arranged to wait on Grey at Kawau when John Williamson, the Superintendent of the province, died (16 Feb). A week later the deputation approached Grey and suggested that he should stand for both positions. He gave his consent, and on 24 Mar he was elected to the superintendency, and three days later to Parliament, in both cases without opposition. This was the first occasion in New Zealand on which he submitted himself to a popular vote.

In Parliament Grey made a noteworthy contribution to the hopeless struggle on the provincial issue. The outcome was already inevitable, and Grey was more concerned about the form of administration which would take the place of the provincial system. When Parliament was dissolved at the end of the year, the provincial issue was politically dead. Grey was returned unopposed for his Auckland seat (23 Dec). He was also opposing Vogel at Thames, and there too, he was successful (6 Jan 1876). The year 1876 saw the end of the provincial system, which had inaugurated the constitution in 1853. Grey, as Superintendent, was responsible for winding up the affairs of Auckland province. That question being out of the way, he gradually gathered about him a body of members of advanced views to whom the platform which he had adumbrated in England in 1868 appealed. These formed the nucleus of the future Liberal Party. On the defeat of Atkinson (13 Oct 1877) Grey formed a ministry having as his colleagues Larnach, Macandrew, Sheehan, J. T. Fisher and Whitmore. A few months later Ballance, Stout and J. N. Wilson came in. The Government policy included adult franchise, triennial parliaments, taxation of land values, the free breakfast table, compulsory purchase of large estates, leasehold tenure and the elective governorship. All of these (except the last) was to be carried into law within the next twenty years, but not by Grey. His ministry got into difficulties over the land tax and a commercial crisis. Ballance resigned after a personal disagreement, and Grey took into the cabinet Gisborne, J. W. Thomson and Swanson. He carried on for a few weeks after being defeated; then asked for a dissolution and appealed to the country.

Grey was elected unopposed for Thames, and made a strenuous campaign throughout the country. In the result the House was fairly equally divided, and the Governor sent for Sir John Hall. To enable Hall to take office, four Auckland members crossed the floor of the House to support him on the understanding that he would carry through certain of the Liberal party's reforms. Grey resigned on 8 Oct 1879. He was deposed from the leadership of his party for obvious reasons. He was not a successful premier, and he was a poor parliamentarian. It was charged against him that he gave his confidence to incompetents and quarrelled with his colleagues. He had certainly a disposition to play a lone hand, and was not an impressive financier. Before the defeat of his ministry, discontent was rife in the Liberal party. Earlier in 1879 a Young New Zealand Reform Party was formed, including in its membership 22 Liberal members of Parliament who agreed that the new organisation should be subsidiary to the Liberal Colonial Party. They included T. W. Hislop, R. J. Seddon, B. Harris, S. T. George, C. A. de Lautour, W. Barron, R. H. Reeves, F. J. Moss, E. Hamlin, R. C. Reid and J. C. Brown. Embittered by his deposition, which tended to accentuate the non-co-operative side of his character, Grey was a private member throughout the eighties and in the heyday of the Liberal party in the early nineties he intervened only as a critic. As an orator he was head and shoulders above the average of the members of Parliament, and he was revered by members of both parties and treated with great deference during the 15 years that he was still to be in Parliament.

In 1889 he succeeded, after many years' patience, in carrying into law the one-man-one vote principle, which he achieved by an amendment in Atkinson's representation bill. His health was now failing, and his retirement from Parliament seemed imminent. In 1888 he sold Kawau because of his advancing years, and at the dissolution of 1890 he retired from politics, comfortable in the belief that Ballance and his colleagues were on the threshold of office. They did, indeed, win at the polls, and within a few weeks formed the first Liberal ministry in New Zealand which had a sufficient backing to carry out its programme.

Grey was appointed to represent New Zealand at the Federal convention in Sydney, where he cut a striking figure. He carried a resolution in favour of the single manhood suffrage, but failed to get acceptance for his other hobby, the elective governor-general. His early views on federation were embodied in a dispatch of 30 Aug 1851, which he reprinted in 1891. The Journals of Parliament contain many official papers on this subject. Grey had no sooner returned to New Zealand than a deputation requested him to contest the Newton seat. He acceded, and was elected unopposed (Apr 1891), giving a general support to the Liberal Government. When Ballance died, Grey strongly advised Seddon to form a Government, and Seddon in after years publicly acknowledged his indebtedness to the advice and the leadership of Grey, much of whose electoral programme he and his colleagues embodied in legislation. In Dec 1893 Grey was again elected (for Auckland City).

In failing health he visited England in 1894, and a few months later he tendered his resignation (4 Jul 1895). In 1897 he was reconciled with his wife, from whom he had been estranged for many years. His death occurred in London on 20 Sep 1898 (two weeks after that of Lady Grey), and he was buried in St Paul's. In private life Grey was abstemious and simple, fond of art, literature and science, and passionately fond of children. His affection for the native race both in New Zealand and South Africa was genuine and warmly reciprocated. Of his public character Reeves makes a fine appraisal in the Dictionary of National Biography.

Grey's writings include: Vocabulary of the Aboriginal Language of Western Australia (1839); Vocab. of the Dialects of South Western Australia (1840); Journals of Two Expeditions of Discovery in North-West and Western Australia 1837-39 (1841); Poems, Traditions and Chaunts of the Maoris (1853); Mythology and Traditions of the New Zealanders (1854); Polynesian Mythology and Ancient Traditional History of the New Zealand Race (1855); Ko nga Whakapepehamenga Whaakahuareka o nga Tipuna o Aotea-roa (1857; 2nd edn, 1885); and a multitude of pamphlets and reprints of speeches on political and scientific subjects. His celebrated reference to 'unborn generations' occurred in an address as president of the New Zealand Society at Wellington (26 Sep 1851) and the reference to 'unborn millions' in a speech at Wellington on 16 Aug 1879.

N.Z.P.D., pass; Auckland P.C. Proc., pass.; App. H.R. pass; GBOP, pass; Grey, op. cit; MS and ports. in Turnbull and Hocken Libraries; Col Gent.; Cooper; Rees (p); do. Sir Gilbert Leigh (1878); Henderson (p); Collier (p); Milne (p); Gisborne (p); Rusden; Reeves; Saunders (p); Cox; Mennell; D.N.B.; Stewart and Rossignol; Carter; Wakelin; Cowan; McKillop; Morton; Gudgeon (p); Godley, Letters; Condliffe; Gorton; Brett's Almanac, 1879 (p); Buick, First War; Fox; Harrop, England and N.Z., England and the Maori Wars; H. W. Farnall, Industrial Depression in N.Z. (1890); C. O. B. Davis, Maori Mementos (1855); J. Grey, His Island Home (1879); E. Wakefield, Stafford; Drummond; Scholefield, N.Z. Evol., and Pacific (1920); Egerton; Hight and Bamford; Shrimpton and Mulgan; E. A. Walker, Hist. of S Africa (1928); E. H. Brookes; Hist. of Native Policy in S. Africa (1927); C. W. de Kiewiet, Brit. Col. Policy and the S African Republics (1929); Sir Godfrey Lagden, The Basutos (1909); G.M. Theal, Hist. of S Africa, vol iv; N.Z. Herald, 1 Dec 1890 (p), 12 Nov 1898

Reference: Volume 1, page 179

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