John Gregory (governor)

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Governor of Jamaica
In office
1735–1735
MonarchKing George II
Preceded byJohn Ayscough
Succeeded byHenry Cunningham
In office
1736–1738
MonarchKing George II
Preceded byHenry Cunningham
Succeeded byEdward Trelawny
In office
1748–1748
MonarchKing George II
Preceded byEdward Trelawny
Succeeded byEdward Trelawny
Personal details
Born1688
Commander-in-Chief of Jamaica
Battles/warsFirst Maroon War

John Gregory (1688 - 1764) was a Jamaican-born colonial administrator and military officer in the eighteenth century

Commander-In-Chief of Jamaica during the First Maroon War
.

Early life

John Gregory came into the world in 1668 in Spanish Town, St. Catherine, Jamaica, the offspring of Matthew Gregory and his wife Jane Archer.

Career

As a window into Gregory's character, Charles Leslie describes him in 1740 as a man "who always acted with that firmness and prudence which became one in such an eminent station; his character is to be strictly honest, and severely just; no motives could ever persuade him to forgive the crimes of convicts, nor could the solicitations or prayers of the most considerable, induce him to deviate from the known laws and rules of justice." [1]

In 1733-35, Gregory was appointed

St. Domingue and Cuba from February 14 to April 1.[5][6] In a letter from John Gregory to Thomas Pownall
, dated 17 July 1759, he expressed a desire to acquaint the board that he had no intention of returning to the island of Jamaica and recommended a gentleman by the name of 'William Lewis' to be of the Council in his stead. [7] Gregory spent his later years residing in his residence on Conduit Street, St George Hanover Square, London, until his passing in 1764.

Ancestry

The Gregories hailed from the hamlet of Hordley in

Sir John Pratt and mother of Lady Grace Pratt, wife of John Fortescue Aland, 1st Baron Fortescue of Credan. And also his great-granduncle, Sir John Bennet of Dawley, Harlington, Middlesex, a son of Sir John Bennet aforementioned, whose two sons were John Bennet, 1st Baron Ossulston, also a student of Grays Inn, as seemed to be a family tradition within the Gregory Family, and Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington. His grand-aunt, Elizabeth Bennet, married The Right Honourable Sir Robert Carr, 3rd Baronet. And John Gregory's great-great granduncle Sir Thomas Bennett
was Lord Mayor of London. It isn't known whether John Gregory's grandfather was in contact with this family of his, but if so, then it's plausible to assume that his aristocratic cousins and other more distant family members certainly contributed to the family's prominence and social standing at the time.

References

  1. ^ A New History of Jamaica, from the earliest accounts, to the taking of Porto Bello by Vice-Admiral Vernon. In thirteen letters from a Gentleman to his friend, etc. [By Charles Leslie. With maps.]. I. Hodges. 1740. p. 285.
  2. ^ https://archive.org/details/cu31924020417527/page/n25/mode/2up Cundall, Frank. (1915) Historic Jamaica. London: Institute of Jamaica. pp. xviii–xix.
  3. ^ "1751 Jamaica Almanac - Assembly Public Officers and Justices". www.jamaicanfamilysearch.com. Jamaican Family Search. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  4. ^ https://www.findmypast.co.uk/image-viewer?issue=BL%2F0000254%2F17380216&page=1 The Stamford Mercury - Thurs, Feb 16, 1737. numb. 295. In accordance with their current policy, the copy can be viewed on newspaperarchive.co.uk for free when a new account is created.
  5. hdl:1808/18363
    .
  6. S2CID 233547783
    .
  7. ^ http://www.british-history.ac.uk/jrnl-trade-plantations/vol11/pp46-55 Journal, July 1759: Volume 66', in Journals of the Board of Trade and Plantations: Volume 11, January 1759 - December 1763, ed. K H Ledward (London, 1935), pp. 46-55.
  8. ^ https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/oxon/vol11/pp259-285
  9. ^ https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/2146651317
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