Martha Grey, Countess of Stamford
{{Short description|British noblewoman}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix = The Right Honourable
| name = The Countess of Stamford
| honorific_suffix =
| image = Martha_Grey,_Countess_of_Stamford.png
| image_size =
| caption =
| birth_name= Martha Solomons
| birth_date = c. 1838
| birth_place = Cape Town, Cape Colony,
British Empire
| death_date = 21 August 1916
| death_place = Wynberg, Union of South Africa
| resting_place = Wynberg, South Africa
| occupation =
| spouse = {{marriage|Harry Grey, 8th Earl of Stamford|1880|1890}}
| children = {{Plainlist|
- John Grey
- Frances Grey
- Lady Mary Grey
}}
| parents =
}}
Martha Grey, Countess of Stamford (née Martha Solomons; c. 1838 – 21 August 1916) was a South African-British aristocrat and school patron. She was born as the daughter of a freed slave and was referred to as “a lady of native Hottentot extraction” by the Victorian columnists. She had a relationship with the Anglican clergyman Harry Grey and gave birth to two children prior to their marriage in 1880. In 1883, her husband succeeded his third cousin as the Earl of Stamford and Baron Grey of Groby, elevating her to the British nobility. Lady Stamford funded the Battswood Training College in Wynberg, Cape Town.
Biography
Lady Stamford was born Martha Solomons in Cape Town. She was the daughter of a freed slave named Rebecca and a man from Wellington named Solomon. Her mother was a well-known figure at the Cape, talked about as "eccentric", sometimes referred to as "Queen Rebecca",{{cite book |last=Loos|first=Jackie |title=Echoes of Slavery: Voices from South Africa's Past |publisher=David Philip |year=2004 |location=Cape Town |isbn=978-0864866615|url=http://cape-slavery-heritage.iblog.co.za/2008/03/26/queen-rebecca-the-freed-slave-queen-of-cape-town/ }} since she claimed to be related to the British royal family; less is known about her father.
File:Cape of Good Hope, view south-east from above Wynberg-2.jpg, 1801]]
In 1864, she met the Reverend Harry Grey, an Anglican clergyman from Cheshire in England and a third cousin of the 7th Earl of Stamford. Grey was sent to the Cape as a remittance man, paid to stay abroad, due to habits his family thought dishonourable. In 1880, Harry and Martha were married; they lived in Wynberg, Cape Town. Lady Stamford had three children: John, Frances and Mary Grey. The first two were born before their marriage, while Mary was born thereafter. Upon the death of the 7th Earl in 1883, the Earldom of Stamford and the Grey barony of Groby passed to Harry Grey, and she became Countess of Stamford and Lady Grey of Groby.{{cite book | last = van der Ross | first = Richard | title = The Black Countess | url = http://cape-slavery-heritage.iblog.co.za/2008/03/26/queen-rebecca-the-freed-slave-queen-of-cape-town/ }}
Her husband died in 1890,[http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=TT18920713.2.27&srpos=2&e=-------10-PubMetaTT-1----0stamford-all "THE STAMFORD PEERAGE"]. Tuapeka Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 1912, 13 July 1892, p. 5. leaving Lady Stamford well off financially, though she and her children suffered much racial prejudices and snobbery from the English settlers in Cape Town. Inspired by her mother's wish to educate her local community, she funded a school in Wynberg, Battswood School, which later became the Battswood Training College for teachers.
Lady Stamford, died in 1916, and was buried alongside her husband and her daughter Frances in Wynberg.
References
External links
- Karen Williams, [https://mediadiversified.org/2016/08/31/martha-solomons-the-slaves-daughter-and-countess-of-stamford-who-made-my-life-possible/ "Martha Solomons: The slave’s daughter and Countess of Stamford who made my life possible"], Media Diversified, 31 August 2016.
- [https://sites.google.com/site/blackcountessmartha/ "THE BLACK COUNTESS FROM BAIN STREET (Never Kissed by the Queen)"], blackcountessmartha.
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grey, Martha}}
Category:20th-century Black British people
Category:19th-century Black British people
Category:20th-century Black British women
Category:19th-century Black British women