Who was Lord Earl Grey?

Albert Henry George Grey, 4th Earl (1851-1917): grew up at Windsor Castle and was private secretary to Prince Alberta and Queen Victoria.

In 1894, he succeeded his uncle as the fourth Earl Grey. Liberal MP (1880-86); administrator of Rhodesia (1896-97); director, British South Africa Company (1898-1904); Governor-General of Canada (1904-11); trustee, Rhodes Trust (1902-17).

He was a politician and diplomat who served as Governor General of Canada from 1904 to 1911, at the time when Alberta and Saskatchewan became provinces. He was very popular with Canadians and was one of the few governors general at that time to complete a full term. In 1909, he donated the Grey Cup, the trophy which is now awarded annually to the Canadian Football League champion.




The Grey Cup is a trophy produced by Birks Jewellers that has been part of Canadian sports since 1909, when it was donated by Governor General Earl Grey for the Canadian football championship. The original conditions stated that the “cup must remain always under purely amateur conditions,” although there is good reason to believe that this was at the urging of P. D. Ross of the Ottawa Journal rather than Lord Grey. The name “Grey Cup” has since been used to refer both to the trophy and the event.