Gregory, Rev James

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Gregory, Rev James

Watercolour portrait of the Reverend James Gregory

from John Sowden's notebooks:

"Was born at Thornton, the son of the Reverend James Gregory, the pastor of Kipping Congregational Church. He was educated at the Silcoates School, Wakefield. His first pastorale was at Belgrave Church, Leeds, where he remained five years until 1879. He then succeeded Dr William Lindsay Alexander in the charge of Augustine Church, Edinburgh, and laboured there successfully for 15 years from 1879 to 1894, in 1890 being elected chairman of the Congregational Union of Scotland.

It was not until 1896, after a temporary charge of the Hill Head Church, Glasgow that he took up his residence in Bradford, and on his return to his native district he retired from the active ministry. He however preserved a close touch with the work of the United Independent College, being at the time of his death a vice-chairman of the board of governors.

He was also the chairman in 1912 of the Bradford District of the Yorkshire Congregational Union and had been for several years one of the secretaries of the Bradford Congregational Union.

A member of the Bradford Free Church Council from its first formation, he was a member of the executive committee at the time of his death. On the secular side of his public interest Mr Gregory was closely identified with the cause of education in the city. In 1903 he was elected representative of the Thornton Ward in the Bradford City Council at a by-election. He devoted himself to educational affairs, and was Chairman of the Higher Education Sub-Committee. He was also a governor of the Bradford Grammar School and the Bradford Girls Grammar School and the Chairman of the Governors of the Thornton Grammar School. In politics he was an ardent Liberal of the Radical School and a prominent member of the Bradford Liberal Club. He was a member of the Bradford Historical and Antiquarian Society and was a president and contributed several papers published in “The Bradford Antiquary.”

Mr Gregory married a daughter of the late Mr Joseph Craven of Thornton and left a widow, six sons and two daughters. He died in 1912."

Year

1911

Creator

Sowden

Image filename

sowden-319