English daughter of Admiral Sir Robert Spencer who married Captain (later Sir) George Gray in 1839. Collected plants in South Australia (1841-1845) while her husband was Governor there; both were interested in natural history and created botanical collections. In October 1845, they left Adelaide when George became Governor of New Zealand (1845-1853) and was knighted in 1848. He was later appointed Governor of Cape Colony in South Africa (1858-1859). Theirs was not a happy marriage; their only child, George died in 1841 aged 5 months. She accused Sir George of being unfaithful, even in their house. Returning to South Africa by ship in 1860, she formed a romantic attachment to Rear Admiral Sir Henry Keppel. In anger, Sir George had her put ashore at Rio de Janeiro and they were to remain separated for over 30 years. He went on to serve a second term as Governor of New Zealand (1861-1868). The Greys were only reconciled in London in 1894 and both died a few years later in September of 1898. Phanerogam material at BM from Australia is simply marked 'Grey'. Though George Grey made collections in South Africa and New Zealand, it is not clear if he collected any of the South Australian material.