Lot Essay
Gray's appointment as Secretary to the British Minister Resident at Venice in 1744 led to his succeeding to that post from 1746-52. At Naples King Ferdinand by proxy installed Gray as a Knight of the Bath in 1761, and he was later appointed Ambassador to Spain 1766-7.
Gray's arms, environed by the motto of the bath are engraved with an enigmatic impalement. Any marriage he may have made is unrecorded but he left two illegitimate daughters. The baronetcy passed to his brother who died shortly after Gray's death in 1773 when the title became extinct.