Martha Ibbetson was born on January 28, 1734 in London into a Moravian family.

In 1752 she married George Gray, a wealthy politician who advocated for the revolutionary cause.

They were married in Whitby Hall, the Philadelphia estate built by her material grandfather, James Coultas.

[1][2][3] During the Revolutionary War, British forces imprisoned captured American troops in the Walnut Street Prison in Philadelphia.

Gray provided medical care and food to these prisoners at her own expense.