You are here: start » parliamentarian » foot-regiments » lord-grey-of-groby

Lord Grey of Groby's Regiment of Foot

Active1642 to 1646
CountryEngland
AllegianceParliamentarian
ConflictsFirst Civil War
TypeFoot
ColonelLord Grey of Groby
Theophilus Grey
Area RaisedLeicester
Coat Colourblue?
Flag Colourunknown
Flag Designunknown
Field ArmiesMidland Association (Grey), 1643-45
Northern Army (Poyntz), 1645-46
Garrison

Later, Colonel Theophilus Grey's Regiment of Foot

Parliamentarian regiment of foot based at Leicester and drawn out to fight at Newark

Service History

1642

  • Summer: Regiment raised
  • Garrison Bradgate Park

1643

  • January: Siege of Ashby-de-la-Zouch?1)
  • January: Capture of Holt Hall, Leics.?2)
  • March to June: Siege of Rockingham Castle?3)
  • April: Capture of Burton-upon-Trent?4)
  • May: Advance on Bagworth Park, Leics.5)
  • May: Attack on Royalist garrison at Burleigh Hall, Loughborough?6)
  • May: Fighting at Wiverton Hall, Notts.?7)

1644

  • March: Skirmish at Hinckley8)
  • March: Battle of Cotes Bridge, Loughborough9)
  • July: Capture of Wilne Ferry garrison on the River Trent?10)

1645

  • Garrison of Leicester
  • May: Besieged at Leicester11)
  • November: Storming of Shelford House, Notts.12)
  • November: Surrender of Wiverton Hall.
  • December to May 1646: Siege of Newark, regiment quartered at Coddington.13)

1646

  • May: Present at the surrender of Newark

Notes

Grey of Groby's regiment was based at Leicester for much of the war, and were sometimes known as the Leicester Foot. A military action marked ? denotes a reference made to Lord Grey's forces, but no direct reference to his foot regiment. The regiment was sometimes commanded in the field by Lt Colonel Henry Grey, Lord Grey's cousin. By spring 1645 Theophilus Grey was Colonel of the regiment and governor of Leicester.

Coats, Flags & Equipment

Possibly blue coats. Lord Grey's father, Henry Grey, Earl of Stamford, issued his own regiment of foot with blue coats when it was raised at Leicester in the summer of 1642 and had formed a guard at the Greys' family seat of Bradgate Park. As Lord Grey's Regiment was formed at roughly the same time and place as Stamford's, it is possible that they were similarly issued with blue coats.14) However, coats for the Earl of Stamford’s Regiment of Foot were provided by the Committee of Safety from London.

The Victorian romance “Master Dod's Blessing” makes specific reference to “Sir John Gell's grey coats, [and] some of my Lord Grey's own blues”, although a 19th-century children's story might not be considered a reliable source.15)

The design of the regimental colours is not recorded. There is reference in the Leicester Chamberlains' Accounts for 1641-1642: “paid for the colours for the trained bands then Lili”16)

Notable Officers

Lord Grey of Groby

Thomas, Lord Grey of Groby

Col Theophilus Grey (1606-1679)

Younger brother of Henry Grey, 10th Earl of Kent. Captain of a company of the regiment at Hinckley, March 1644. Colonel of the regiment and Governor of Leicester from the spring of 1645. Wounded in action at the defence of Leicester, May 31 1645. Later commanded the regiment at the siege of Newark.17)

Lt Col Henry Grey (1612-1686)

The son of Ambrose Grey of Enville Hall, Staffordshire, and first cousin of Thomas, Lord Grey of Groby. Lieutenant Colonel 09/02/44 - 22/09/44,18) Commanded the regiment in the actions at Hinckley and Cotes Bridge 1644. Governor of Leicester in 1644. Served as Governor of Grantham and took command of Colonel Thomas Rainsborough’s Regiment of Foot in Lincolnshire, 04/04/45 - 25/08/4619) after Rainsborough transferred to the 'new model'. Spring is mistaken in giving this to Col James Grey. Henry Grey led Rainsborough's former regiment at the capture of Hougham Manor (June 1645)20) the surrender of Belvoir Castle (January 1646),21) and at the final siege of Newark. Subsequently served with his regiment in Ireland.22) Justice of the Peace for Staffordshire, 1680.23)

Officer List

  • Lord Grey of Groby
  • Col Theophilus Grey (w. at the defence of Leicester, 31 May 1645)
  • Lt Col Henry Grey
  • Lt Col Battersby
  • Capt Collison
  • Capt Farmer (k. at the defence of Leicester, 31 May 1645)
  • Capt Hurst (w. at the defence of Leicester, 31 May 1645)

Strength

In May 1643, Colonel Devereux Wolseley estimated Leicester's forces to be “not above 400”.24) In July 1644, Lord Grey wrote that his foot regiment's strength was “450 marching men”.25) The regiment's strength at Leicester in May 1645 was 529,26) divided among the following companies:

  • Col Theophilus Grey: 230
  • Lt Col Battersby: 50
  • Capt Farmer: 120
  • Capt Hurst: 129

See Also

Lord Grey of Groby's Regiment is re-enacted by Lord Thomas Grey's Regiment of Foote of the Sealed Knot.

1) Gell, J. “A True Relation”, in: Glover, S. (ed.) The History, Gazetteer and Directory of the County of Derby (Derby: 1899), 63
2) HMC, Portland MSS, i, 87
3) Wise, C. Rockingham Castle and the Watsons, (London: Eliot Stock, 1891), 65
4) Gell, “A True Relation”, op. cit., 64
5) HMC, Hastings MSS, ii, 102
6) Bennett, M. The Royalist War Effort in the North Midlands, 1642-1646, (Loughborough University, 1986), p.90
7) Hutchinson, L. Memoirs of the Life of Colonel Hutchinson (London: Everyman, 1995), 107-108
8) Grey, H. A Letter to the Lord Grey of Grooby, https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=eebo;idno=A85689.0001.001
9) Bennett, M. “The Civil War Battle at Cotes Bridge”, The Leicestershire Historian, 3, 3, pp.15-22, https://www.le.ac.uk/lahs/downloads/LeicestershireHistorian-Vol.3No.3-1984-5.pdf
10) Whitelock, B. Memorials of the English Affairs (Oxford: University Press, 1853), i, 282
11) , 26) Temple, P. An Examination Examined (London: 1645)
12) “Payment to Thomas Joyce”, SP28/41, Civil War Petitions [online] https://www.civilwarpetitions.ac.uk/payments/thomas-joyce-of-leicester-leicestershire-nottinghamshire-county-committee-treasurers-payments-11-december-1645/
13) Brown, C. The Annals of Newark-upon-Trent (London: 1879), 153, https://archive.org/details/annalsofnewarkup00browuoft/page/152/mode/2up
14) A Particular Relation of the Action Before Cyrencester, 1642 (London: 1643); Hollings, J. F. The History of Leicester in the Great Civil War (Leicester: 1840), 15
15) Anon., “Master Dod's Blessing”, in: Friendship's Offering (London: 1844), 185, 187
16) Stocks, H. (ed.) Records of the Borough of Leicester, (London: Clay, 1899-1974), iv, 323
17) Nichols, J. The History of the Antiquities of the County of Leicester (Wakefield: S R Publishers, 1971), iv, 245; Temple, P. An Examination Examined (London:1645)
18) N.A. SP28/266/pt2/5
19) N.A. SP28/266/pt2/1
20) Grey. H. A True Relation of the Taking of Howhum (London, 1645), https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo/A95265.0001.001/1:2?
21) 'Letter from the Committee with the Army, 3 February 1646', in: Journal of the House of Lords, Volume 8 (London: 1767-1830), 141a
22) HMC 7th Report, 1
23) Armytage, G. J. Staffordshire Pedigrees (London: 1912), 111, https://archive.org/details/StaffordshirePedigreesBasedOnTheVisitationOfThatCountyMadeByWilliam/page/n121/mode/2up
24) HMC, Hastings MSS, ibid.
25) CSPD (Charles I), vol. 502, 3 July 1644