- "What did you imagine? That we would welcome you with open arms?"
- —Tim's words to Isobel Crawley about his and his brother's reaction to hers and their father's engagement.[src]
Timothy "Tim" Grey is the younger son of Lord Merton. Larry Grey is his elder brother.
Biography[]
Background[]
Little is known of Tim's early life, but his father remarks that Tim and Larry take after their late mother "in every possible way" - implying both brothers were very close to their mother.
His father mentions to Isobel Crawley in 1922 that Tim is a diplomat, while his brother is in banking.
1924[]
Tim accompanies his brother Larry to a dinner at Downton after his father becomes engaged to Isobel Crawley. He expresses disapproval of Edith's plan to take in an orphan child, feeling an orphan would be "an uncomfortable piece of baggage for an unmarried woman" and that he himself would have no desire to take such a child on as his own.
Tim agrees with Larry's statement that marriages which fail often do so for what his brother calls "an irreconcilable difference" instead of Mary's belief that they "just don't get on."
While Larry insults Isobel because of her background and in turn the whole Crawley family, Tim remains silent. After Larry is asked to leave, Tim asks Isobel in a whisper if she really believed that he and his brother would be willing to welcome her into the family, revealing that like Larry he too is unhappy that she is marrying his father.
After dinner, while his father tries to comfort Isobel, Tim interrupts, impatiently telling his father that Larry has been sitting in the car since he left the dining room. Lord Merton angrily says he is coming, so Tim, with disdain in his voice, bids Isobel good night and walks out.
Later that year, while the majority of the Crawley family is at Brancaster Castle, Isobel tells his father she has accepted that Tim and Larry have no desire to see their mother replaced and has no desire herself to set him against his children. But when she says she would marry him if his sons accepted her, he asks them to reconsider. While Larry writes Isobel a letter telling her his feelings are unchanged, Tim's reaction remains unknown, but was most likely the same.Notes[]
- Given that Mary told Sybil in Episode 3.01 that "the whole Grey family" was coming to dinner, it is possible Tim might have been present when Larry drugged Tom Branson, but Violet asks Merton in Episode 5.07 if she has even met Tim, so it is also possible he was not.
- Cora mentions in Episode 5.07 that Tim and Larry arrived from London, so it is possible that is where he lives. But this has not been confirmed.
- Given Tim's reaction that he would not want to take on an orphan (referring to Edith adopting a foster-child while unmarried), it is likely (but unconfirmed) that he is unmarried.
Appearances[]
| Appearances and Mentions | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Series 4 | Episode 1 | Episode 2 | Episode 3 | Episode 4 | Episode 5 | Episode 6 | Episode 7 | Episode 8 Mentioned |
Christmas Special |
| Series 5 | Episode 1 | Episode 2 | Episode 3 | Episode 4 | Episode 5 | Episode 6 | Episode 7 Appears |
Episode 8 Mentioned |
Christmas Special Mentioned |
| Series 6 | Episode 1 | Episode 2 | Episode 3 | Episode 4 | Episode 5 | Episode 6 | Episode 7 Mentioned |
Episode 8 | Christmas Special |