Lord John William Grey is a fictional character created by Diana Gabaldon. He is a recurring secondary character in Gabaldon's Outlander series of novels, and the main character of the Lord John series of historical mystery novels and novellas. Secretly homosexual "in a time when that particular predilection could get one hanged", the character has been called "one of the most complex and interesting" of the hundreds of characters in Gabaldon's Outlander novels.
Outlander series Grey first appears in the second Outlander novel Dragonfly in Amber (1992) as a 16-year-old English soldier who chances upon Jamie and Claire Fraser on the eve of the Battle of Prestonpans. Recognizing Jamie as a wanted rebel and presuming Claire to be his prisoner, Grey attempts to save her. Using the threat of harm to Claire, Jamie tricks Grey into revealing information about the nearby British forces, and spares the boy's life.
In Voyager (1994), a mortally injured Jamie is saved from execution as a traitor after the Battle of Culloden in 1746 by Harold Grey, Earl of Melton, as repayment for sparing the younger Grey. Jamie is sent home to Lallybroch to die, but recovers, and goes into hiding. Years later in 1753 he allows himself to be caught, and is placed in Ardsmuir Prison. An adult Lord John Grey is named the new governor of the prison in 1755, and the two form an awkward friendship, which is complicated by Grey's unrequited attraction to Jamie. Grey eventually paroles Jamie at Helwater, the country estate of the Dunsany family, in 1756. Jamie secretly fathers a son with Geneva Dunsany named William, who is raised as the son of Geneva's husband, Lord Ellesmere, after Geneva and Ellesmere's deaths. Jamie decides to leave Helwater in 1764 as the boy's resemblance to him becomes increasingly apparent, and Grey becomes William's stepfather by marrying the boy's aunt and guardian, Isobel Dunsany. A grateful Jamie offers himself to Grey, who declines, but Jamie kisses him. Years later, Grey and Jamie are reunited in Jamaica, where Grey is serving as governor.
The character makes subsequent appearances in Drums of Autumn (1997), A Breath of Snow and Ashes (2005), An Echo in the Bone (2009), and Written in My Own Heart's Blood (2014), as well as in The Fiery Cross (2001) by way of a series of letters to Jamie and his family.
Television adaptation
Outlander, a television adaptation of Gabaldon's series, premiered on Starz in August 2014, with each season based on a novel in the sequence. The introduction of Grey in the series was confirmed by Executive Producer Ronald D. Moore in March 2015.
Casting The casting of Oscar Kennedy in the role was announced on Twitter in November 2015. Kennedy portrays a young Grey in the 2016 season two episode "Je Suis Prest", adapting the character's appearance in Dragonfly in Amber.
In August 2016, Starz announced that David Berry had been cast as the adult Grey for season three of the series, which adapts Voyager. A photo of Berry as Grey was released in July 2017, prior to the season's debut in September 2017. He debuted in the 2017 episode "All Debts Paid", and made appearances through season five. In May 2020, Berry made a post on Twitter that many took to mean that he would not be returning to Outlander after the fifth season finale. However, it was only the character who did not return for the sixth season, and Berry did reprise the role in season seven.
Season two In "Je Suis Prest", young John William Grey, second son of Viscount Melton, encounters Highland warrior Jamie Fraser and his wife Claire in Scotland near where his British regiment is camped. In the mistaken belief that Claire is an English prisoner of the Highlanders, Grey tries to "save" her; Jamie subdues him but spares his life. Information gleaned by Jamie from the encounter helps the Jacobites defeat the British forces at the Battle of Prestonpans.
Unlike in the novel, it is Claire who initiates the ruse of Jamie threatening her to coerce Grey. Pri Figueiredo of Moviepilot called the change "a wasted opportunity to show viewers that Jamie Fraser is more than a bulky and sensual sex toy for Claire", but Terri Schwartz of IGN wrote that "Lord John William Grey's first appearance did not disappoint, and it did a great job establishing who he is as a character without overplaying his future importance."
Season three As in Voyager, the season three episode "All Debts Paid" finds an adult Grey as the new governor of Ardsmuir Prison, where Jamie has been incarcerated. Years later, Grey arranges for Jamie's parole at the country estate Helwater. He eventually becomes the stepfather of Jamie's illegitimate son Willie, who is being raised as an earl, in "Of Lost Things". Later in "The Bakra', Grey and Jamie are reunited in Jamaica, where Grey is governor and Jamie is seeking his missing nephew, Young Ian. Jamie is arrested in "Eye of the Storm", but Grey is able to release him due to a lack of evidence of Jamie's alleged crimes.
Season four In the season four episode "Blood of My Blood", Grey and Willie visit Jamie and Claire in Fraser's Ridge, their homestead in North Carolina. While Jamie gets to know Willie, Claire nurses Grey, who has contracted measles. He grieves his late wife Isobel, and admits to Claire his lingering attraction to Jamie. Jamie is pained to see Grey and Willie leave. In "If Not For Hope", Grey is a dinner guest of Jamie's aunt Jocasta MacKenzie Cameron. He meets Claire and Jamie's daughter Brianna, and learns that she is unmarried and pregnant. Brianna later spies Grey having sex with another male guest, Judge Alderdyce. Knowing an unwanted suitor plans to propose, Brianna asks Grey to marry her, believing she will be safe with him. He refuses, but then relents when he realizes how much she needs him to help her.
Season five Grey attends Brianna's wedding to Roger Mackenzie in "The Fiery Cross". He tells Jamie that Stephen Bonnet, the convicted criminal who raped Brianna, is not dead as they believed, and has been sighted in Wilmington, North Carolina. Brianna overhears. Grey later attends the wedding of Jamie's aunt, Jocasta Cameron, in "Better to Marry Than Burn". Grey visits Claire and Jamie in "Journeycake" with news that William's grandfather Lord Dunsany has died, leaving William as heir to Helwater. Grey leaves a portrait of the boy with Jamie. Grey tells Brianna he is taking Jocasta's manservant Ulysses, a former slave, with him back to England.
Lord John series
Most notably, Grey is also featured in his own Lord John series of historical mystery novels and shorter works that all take place between 1756 and 1761, during the events of Voyager. When Gabaldon was invited to write a short story for the 1998 British anthology Past Poisons: An Ellis Peters Memorial Anthology of Historical Crime, she was interested in the challenge of writing a shorter work but hesitant to use any of the main characters from the Outlander series for fear of creating "a stumbling block in the growth of the next novel." The Lord Grey character came to mind.
That first Lord John story became Lord John and the Hellfire Club (1998); it was well-received and Gabaldon decided that she would write more Grey-centric tales in her spare time. Her next attempt was a larger manuscript that secured the author a deal for three full Grey novels: Lord John and the Private Matter (2003), Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade (2007) and The Scottish Prisoner (2011). Gabaldon would also write five additional Lord John novellas between 2003 and 2011. The Lord John spin-off series currently consists of six novellas and three novels. Though they and the main Outlander books can be understood independently of each other, according to Gabaldon there are events in each that will be more thoroughly understood having read both series. They can be generally categorized as historical mysteries, and the three novels are shorter and focus on fewer plot threads than the main Outlander books.
Lord John and the Hellfire Club (1998), a novella. Originally published in the 1998 British anthology Past Poisons: An Ellis Peters Memorial Anthology of Historical Crime (edited by Maxim Jakubowski), as well as by Bantam Dell as Lord John and the Hell-Fire Club in a "Complimentary Collector's Special Edition" the same year. It was later included in the Lord John and the Hand of Devils collection (2007). Lord John and the Private Matter (2003), a novel. Published by Delacorte Press on September 30, 2003. Though Gabaldon had intended it to be a novella, Private Matter came in at 320 pages and secured the author a deal for two additional full Grey novels, Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade (2007) and The Scottish Prisoner (2011). Lord John and the Succubus (2003), a novella. Originally published in the 2003 Del Rey Books anthology Legends II: New Short Novels by the Masters of Modern Fantasy (edited by Robert Silverberg), and later collected in Lord John and the Hand of Devils (2007). Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade (2007), a novel. Published by Delacorte Press on August 28, 2007. Lord John and the Haunted Soldier (2007), a novella. Published in the 2007 Delacorte Press collection Lord John and the Hand of Devils alongside previously published novellas Lord John and the Hellfire Club (1998) and Lord John and the Succubus (2003). As Haunted Soldier is a direct follow-up to her novel Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade, Gabaldon pushed the publication of the Hand of Devils collection until after the novel's release. The Custom of the Army (2010), a novella. First published in the 2010 Tor Books fantasy anthology Warriors, edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois. In May 2012 it became available as a standalone eBook, and was later included in A Trail of Fire, an Outlander collection released in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand in late 2012 and released in the United States and Canada in 2014. It was later collected in Seven Stones to Stand or Fall (2017). The Scottish Prisoner (2011), a novel. Published by Delacorte Press on November 29, 2011. Lord John and the Plague of Zombies (2011), a novella. First published in the 2011 Ace Books urban fantasy anthology Down These Strange Streets, edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois. In April 2013 it became available as a standalone eBook titled A Plague of Zombies, and was later included in A Trail of Fire, an Outlander collection released in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand in late 2012 and expected to be released in the United States and Canada in early 2014. The novella was nominated for an Edgar Award by the Mystery Writers of America, for the “Best Short Mystery Story” of 2011. Besieged (2017), a novella. Published in the 2017 Gabaldon collection Seven Stones to Stand or Fall.
With the TV series adaptation of Gabaldon's Outlander series premiering on Starz in 2014, Executive Producer Ronald D. Moore was asked in March 2015 about the possibility of a Lord John series. He said, "It's in the back of our minds as a potential thing, but right now our minds are pretty firmly set on just delivering the second season. We'll see what happens down the line on Lord Grey."
Character overview