The Greggs were a family of legal professionals from Derbyshire, and the name "Francis Gregg" was found in successive generation. As explained by Daniel Lysons, the Gregg became armigerous in the early 18th century. Their background was in Ilkeston. The motif of trefoils alludes to the arms of Gregg of Bradley. This Francis Gregg was an attorney and Member of Parliament, known also as Francis Gregg of Wallington. The arms were granted in 1725 to Foot Gregg of Derby; and descended to Francis III, his great-nephew; the grant was to "the descendants of his father Francis, of Ilkeston and Norton Lees Hall." Francis I was one of the Six Clerks of Chancery. Francis II, the father of Francis III the MP, is given by the History of Parliament as "Francis Gregg of Putney"; he married Emilia/Emilie of Putney. The clerkship of the Worshipful Company of Skinners stayed in the extended Gregg family for over a century.
Life
Gregg was son of Francis Gregg of Putney, and was clerk to the Worshipful Company of Skinners from 1759. He became a lawyer in practice at Skinners's Hall, Dowgate Hill, London, in the substantial legal firm Gregg & Potts. They acted as the defence solicitors in the case around the arrest of George Pigot, 1st Baron Pigot. Potts died in 1788. Gregg was legal adviser to Frederick Howard, 5th Earl of Carlisle, and was asked to stand for parliament for, while the Earl's heir Lord Morpeth reached the age of 21. He was duly elected for Morpeth in 1789, and held the seat until 1794. During the 1780s Gregg had a mansion built in Mitcham, Park House.
Family
Gregg married Elizabeth Wellford on 6 October 1758, and they had a family of three sons and three daughters,. Their children included:
Henry Gregg, the eldest son, a barrister: see below.
Francis junior, who married Janet Bell of Mincing Lane in 1791. He succeeded his father as clerk to the Skinners' Company. From 1825 the clerk was George Gregg, son of Francis junior, who died in 1828; then from 1828 Thomas Glover Kensit, as given in the company history by Wadmore. Kensit married Janet, the youngest daughter of Francis junior, in 1828.
Henry Gregg was a barrister of Lincoln's Inn, distinguished mainly as a London social figure. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1798, but was never formally admitted. Gregg, who was
Early life
Henry Gregg acted as an Under Sheriff for London and Middlesex, in 1777. That year, he matriculated at St John's College, Oxford. He graduated B.A., from Christ Church, Oxford, in 1781. That year, he is styled "Student" of Christ Church in a book subscription list.
Legal career
Travelling the northern circuit as a barrister, Gregg took James Boswell to visit Naworth Castle, on 24 July 1788, where he had "plenary power" as an agent through his father's position with the Howards. He corresponded with the poet William Parsons, who sent him a sonnet, published in 1807. He appeared in The Court and City Register for 1801 as a commissioner for bankrupts, residing at 43 Bedford Square. He acted as a stipendiary magistrate in Shadwell, appointed in 1814 and resigning in 1816.
Gregg died in Bedford Square on 22 February 1826, at age 67.
Family of Henry Gregg
Gregg married Maria Gosling in August 1794. They lived at 43 Bedford Square, London. Their children included:
Henry William Gregg, eldest son, married in 1848 Frances Winifred Rouse
R. J. Gregg, second son, married in 1839 Catherine Julia Buller, daughter of Cornelius Buller.
Charles Francis Gregg, Enniskellen Dragoons, youngest son, married in 1843 Isabella Susan Carr. NB states he is son of Henry Gregg who married Maria Gosling, and grandson of Francis Gregg of Wallington.
Maria Elizabeth Gregg, eldest daughter, married in 1820 Richard Gosling.
Harriet Catherine, second daughter, died at age 58 in 1855.
Caroline Jessy Gregg, third daughter, married in 1832 Francis Gosling.
After Gregg's death, Maria his widow lived, from 1827, at 5 Park Square, Regent's Park, London, and Belle Vue House, Richmond, Surrey. She was acquainted with Fanny D'Arblay and her sister Esther Burney.
