| Administrative History | William Gregory was the second son of John Gregory (1724 - 1773) and his wife, Elizabeth Forbes (c.1728 - 1761). He was educated at Glasgow University and afterwards at Balliol College, Oxford, from where he graduated B.A. in 1780 and M.A. in 1783. He was ordained in 1783 and in 1786 presented by the Archbishop of Canterbury to the United Rectories of St Andrew and St Mary Breadham in Canterbury. Two years later he was appointed master of Eastbridge Hospital, in right of which he appointed himself to the Vicarage of Blean, Kent. Afterwards, he was appointed one of the six preachers in Canterbury Cathedral.
In 1788 Gregory married Catharine Sayer, with whom he had five children: James Gregory (c 1788 - 1859; George Gregory (1790 - 1853); Catherine Gregory (1791 - 1846); William Gregory (1794 - 1853) and John Gregory (1795 - 1853).
Whilst at Oxford, he was friends with the Reverend Archibald Allison (1757 - 1839), Matthew Baillie (1761-1823) physician and anatomist, and Dr Charles Dalrymple Lindsay (1760-1846), Bishop of Kildare. |