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6TH BARON PATRICK GRAY GRAY (d. 1612)

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Originally appearing in Volume V12, Page 392 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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6TH See also:

BARON See also:PATRICK See also:GRAY GRAY (d. 1612)  , was descended from See also:Sir See also:Andrew See also:Gray (c . 1390–1469) of Broxmouth and See also:Foulis, who was created a Scottish peer as See also:Lord Gray, probably in 1445 . Andrew was a leading figure in Scottish politics during the reigns of See also:James I. and his two successors, and visited See also:England as a See also:hostage, a diplomatist and a See also:pilgrim . The 2nd Lord Gray was his See also:grandson Andrew (d . 1514), and the 4th lord was the tatter's grandson See also:Patrick (d . 1582), a participant in Scottish politics during the stormy See also:time of See also:Mary, See also:queen of Scots . Patrick's son, Patrick, the 5th lord (d . 1609), married See also:Barbara, daughter of See also:William, 2nd Lord See also:Ruthven, and their son Patrick, known as the " See also:Master of Gray," is the subject of this See also:article . Educated at See also:Glasgow University and brought up as a See also:Protestant, See also:young Patrick was married See also:early in See also:life to See also:Elizabeth See also:Lyon, daughter of Lord See also:Glamis, whom he repudiated almost directly; and afterwards went to See also:France, where the joined the See also:friends of Mary, queen of Scots, became a See also:Roman See also:Catholic, and assisted the See also:French policy of the Guises in See also:Scotland . He returned and took up his See also:residence again in Scotland in 1583, and immediately began a career of treachery and intrigue, gaining James's favour by disclosing to him his See also:mother's secrets, and acting in agreement with James See also:Stewart, See also:earl of See also:Arran, in See also:order to keep Mary a prisoner in England . In 1584 he was sent as See also:ambassador to England, to effect a treaty between James and Elizabeth and to exclude Mary . His ambition incited him at the same time to promote a See also:plot to secure the downfall of Arran .

This was supported by Elizabeth, and was finally accomplished by letting loose the lords banished from Scotland for their participation in the See also:

rebellion called the See also:Raid of Ruthven, who, joining Gray, took See also:possession of the See also:king's See also:person at See also:Stirling in 1585, the See also:league with England being ratified by the See also:parliament in See also:December . Gray now became the intermediary between the See also:English See also:government and James on the See also:great question of Mary's See also:execution, and in 1587 he was despatched on an See also:embassy to Elizabeth, ostensibly to See also:save Mary's life . Gray had, however, previously advised her See also:secret assassination and had endeavoured to overcome all James's scruples; and though he does not appear to have carried treachery so far as to advise her See also:death on this occasion, no representations made by him could have had any force or See also:weight . The execution of Mary caused his own downfall and loss of See also:political See also:power in Scotland; and after his return he was imprisoned on charges of plots against Protestantism, of endeavouring to prevent the king's See also:marriage, and of having been bribed to consent to Mary's death . He pleaded guilty of See also:sedition and of having obstructed the king's marriage, and was declared a traitor; but his life was spared by James and he was banished from the See also:country, but permitted to return in 1589, when he was restored to his See also:office of master of the See also:wardrobe to which he had been appointed in 1585 . His further career was marked by lawlessness and misconduct . In 1592, together with the 5th Lord See also:Bothwell, he made an unsuccessful See also:attempt to seize the king at See also:Falkland, and the same See also:year earned considerable discredit by bringing groundless accusations against the Presbyterian See also:minister, See also:Robert See also:Bruce; while after the king's See also:accession to the English See also:throne he was frequently summoned before the authorities on See also:account of his conduct . Notwithstanding, he never lost James's favour . In 1609 he succeeded his See also:father as 6th See also:Baron Gray, and died in 1612 . Gray was an intimate friend of Sir See also:Philip See also:Sidney, but, if one of the ablest, handsomest and most fascinating, he was beyond doubt one of the most unscrupulous men of his See also:day . He married as his second wife in 1585 Mary Stewart, daughter of Robert, earl of See also:Orkney, and had by her, besides six daughters, a son, Andrew (d . 1663), who succeeded him as 7th Baron Gray .

Andrew, who served for a See also:

long time in the French See also:army, was a supporter, although not a very prominent one, of See also:Charles I. and afterwards of Charles II . He was succeeded as 8th Lord Gray by Patrick (d . 1711), a son of his daughter See also:Anne, and Patrick's successor was his kinsman and son-in-See also:law See also:John (d . 1724) . On the extinction of John's See also:direct See also:line in 1878 the See also:title of Lord Gray, passed to See also:George See also:Stuart, earl of See also:Moray . In 16o6 Gray had been ranked See also:sixth among the Scottish baronies .

End of Article: 6TH BARON PATRICK GRAY GRAY (d. 1612)
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