Who is Earl Grey?

Who exactly is Earl Grey?
This man seems to be a figurehead of tea history, with many of the world’s teas named after him or one of his titled relatives, so one might assume that he owned half of the world’s tea plantations?
The actual tea, Earl Grey, consists of black China tea, flavoured with bergamot which hails from Calabria in Southern Italy, and is named after an English peer – confusing!
The man himself was presumed to be Charles Grey, who became the Prime Minister of England in the 1830s. He was the son of General Charles Grey who fought in the Seven Years War and the American War of Independence with the English. In recognition of General Grey’s service, he was awarded an Earldom a year before his death. Upon his death, the title was transferred to his son, also named Charles.
The younger Earl Grey’s claims to fame include abolishing slavery in the UK and signing the reform act – but what he is best known for is tea.
The story goes that one of Earl Grey’s men saved the life of a young boy and in thanks, his father who was a Chinese mandarin (someone who held public office in China), presented Earl Grey with a blend of China tea flavoured with bergamot. This story seems dubious as Earl Grey never went to China, but nonetheless black tea flavoured with citrus is traditionally called ‘Earl Grey’.
Another explanation is that a Chinese mandarin developed a tea that offset the water at Howick Hall, the family home of Earl Grey, which tended to have a lot of lime in it.
Lady Grey would take their special mixture of tea to London to entertain, and in turn gave the recipe to tea merchants which lead to it being sold to the public.
And what about all of Earl Grey’s relatives after whom other varieties of tea are named? Here are some other varieties of Earl Grey’s tea:
Lady Grey
Like her husband, Lady Grey consists of black tea flavoured with bergamot oil, but also containing orange peel and lemon peel oil. This blend is made exclusively by Twinings who created it for those who found the flavour of Earl Grey overpowering.
French Earl Grey
French Earl Grey has the addition of rose petals. Some blends also include other fruits such as apricot and peach, and may also include cornflowers.
Lavender Earl Grey
Lavender is added to Earl Grey to make this more of a soothing tea.
Rooibos Earl Grey
This is a caffeine-free version of Earl Grey where the black tea is replaced with rooibos which makes it a tisane.

The 2nd Earl Grey, 1820