First creation The first creation was generally dated to 23 June 1295, when
Reginald de Grey was summoned to an assembly prior to the
Model Parliament that was summoned that November, as
Lord Grey de Wilton. ''
Burke's Peerage'' notes that the June "assembly in question is not now recognized as a bona fide Parl[iament]", but that Reginald had earlier been summoned to the "assembly called a full Parl[iament] of 29 May 1290". This branch of the Grey family of aristocrats was based at
Wilton Castle on the Welsh border in
Herefordshire. The Greys of Wilton, as well as the other old noble families bearing the name of Grey/Gray, are descended from the Norman knight
Anchetil de Greye. Wilton Castle itself passed from the family when the 13th baron was forced to sell it to raise his ransom after being captured in France. Sir Thomas Grey, the 15th baron, was
attainted in 1603, forfeiting his titles and honours, after being convicted of treason for his alleged involvement in the
Bye Plot against
King James I. Grey never married. The attainder against him was not reversed prior to his death. His two sisters would have been his co-heiresses but for the attainder; one of them, Bridget, married
Sir Roland Egerton, 1st Baronet, and they were ancestors of the recipient of the second creation below.
Second creation , who became
Baron Grey de Wilton in 1784, then
Viscount Grey de Wilton and
Earl of Wilton in 1801 The second creation was in 1784, when
Sir Thomas Egerton (1749–1814) was created
Baron Grey de Wilton, of
Wilton Castle, with remainder to the heirs male of his body. He was a member of the
Egerton family and had in 1756 succeeded to his father's
Grey Egerton baronetcy. The
1st baronet had married Bridget Grey, the sister of Sir Thomas Grey. In 1801, the
1st Baron Grey de Wilton was also made
Viscount Grey de Wilton and
Earl of Wilton, of Wilton Castle in the County of Hereford, in the
Peerage of the United Kingdom. The latter titles were created with remainder to the second and younger sons successively of his daughter Eleanor, wife of
Robert Grosvenor, 1st Marquess of Westminster. On the first earl of Wilton's death in 1804, the Grey de Wilton barony became extinct, as he had no sons, while the Grey Egerton baronetcy passed to a distant relative. The titles of
Earl of Wilton and
Viscount Grey de Wilton passed, according to the special remainder, to the 1st earl's grandson,
Thomas Grosvenor (1799–1882), who adopted the surname of Egerton and became the 2nd earl. These titles are still extant. ==Grey family==