Born in March 1764, Charles Grey – who became the 2nd Earl Grey in 1807 - was the Whig Prime Minister of the UK from Nov 1830 to July 1834. It might seem strange that the nation's favourite cup takes its name from a British politician but back then, high society influenced popular culture in the same way it does today. These days we might name things after influential actors or musicians after a notable story goes viral on social media. News travelled a little slower in Earl Grey's day, however the effect was much the same. Among the notable achievements of the famous Earl's government was the abolition of slavery in the British Empire. Grey was also an architect of parliamentary reform, and the 1832 Reform Act saw major changes to electoral boundaries and the representation of major cities. Grey was educated at Richmond College, Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he mastered politics and economics. Grey married Mary Ponsonby in 1794 and, between 1796 and 1819, the couple had 10 sons and six daughters, quite a family.

Prior to his marriage, Grey was involved with an infamous affair with Georgiana, the beautiful Duchess of Devonshire, who fell pregnant with a daughter, Eliza Courtney. Born in Aix-en-Provence, France in 1792, Eliza only learned the identity of her father following her mother’s death 14 years later. According to the Grey family, the tea which bears its name was blended specially for the Earl, using bergamot to offset the excessive lime in the water at Howick Hall, the family estate. This could well be true but nobody is quite sure of why exactly the well-loved blend is named after the Earl. Some suggest Earl Grey travelled to China, where he was served black tea with bergamot orange peel and loved it so much that he brought it back to England to share with his friends. Grey spent his retirement at Howick, died in 1845, and is buried at a nearby church. There is a statute to commemorate him on Grey’s Monument in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and many have been known to drink a flask of hot Earl Grey tea there to honor him. There's no doubt the man led an eventful life, both politically and personally, and today his name lives on in the form of one of the world’s most popular teas. Using only natural bergamot oil and the world's finest black tea, Newby Teas is deeply proud of its signature Earl Grey blend. Find it in loose-leaf, everyday tea bags and luxury Silken Pyramids, in the Newby Teas e-boutique.