Lord Grey  Lord Grey of Naunton, who has died aged 89, was one
of the last and most liberal of Britain's colonial governors. An
open-faced New Zealander with a nice line in self-deprecating
humour, he was the most successful of the small number of ex-
colonials admitted to the colonial service between the wars.
His achievements as Northern Ireland's last governor were
overshadowed in 1972, when he was stripped of all but his
ceremonial duties by Edward Heath's decision to impose direct
rule on Northern Ireland. For Grey's last year there he was left
impotent in Hillsborough castle, having for the four previous
years presided over a devolved government as the Queen's
representative. In 1973, he was made deputy chairman of the
Commonwealth Development Corporation, becoming its chair-man in
1979.  His life peerage had accompanied his appointment to
Northern Ireland in 1968, but he was born Ralph Grey in
Wellington, New Zealand. Educated at Scotts College, Wellington
College and University College, Auckland, he w