The English name Gregory comes from the Greek “Gregorios” meaning “watchman“, and it became known in the West through St Gregory, first of 16 popes to bear the name,  who sent St Augustine to convert the English.  The name became widespread in England in the 12th century, and one of its many bearers became the distant ancestor of our Gregory family.

William Gregory was born in Wellington, Shopshire in about 1810, the son of another William Gregory.  Both father and son were coal miners, and the younger William married Esther Hallett at St Giles' Church, Rowley Regis, Staffordshire on 23 July 1838.  Esther was christened in Codsall, Staffordshire on 2 January 1820, and was the daughter of labourer John Hallett and his wife Ann.

William and Esther had eight children, born in West Bromwich, Tipton and Wolverhampton:

William died of apoplexy in Wolverhampton on 11 March 1872, and Esther lived for a while with her youngest son Enoch, and later with Samuel and his family.  She died of chronic bronchitis in Wolverhampton on 10 January 1893, aged 73.

John Gregory was born in West Bromwich, Staffordshire in 1839, and married Selina Webster at Bloxwich on 31 January 1859.  Selina was born in Rudhall, Staffordshire on 4 September 1841, and was the oldest child of David Webster, a chain maker, and his wife Mary Ann Cross.   John and Selina had five children:

John's brother James married Selina's younger sister Emma.

Selina was a dressmaker, and died in Walsall in 1883.  John, like several of his relations, was a labourer in a gas tube factory.  He died in Walsall in 1905. 

They lost four daughters in infancy: Hannah and newborn Elizabeth died in 1872, while Phyllis Mercy and Alice were buried together in Merridale Cemetery in 1882.  Samuel died in Wolverhampton in 1916, and Mary Ann died there  on 3 March 1918.

Mary Ann Gregory was born in West Bromwich, Staffordshire in 1843, and as a teenager went into domestic service in Bilston.  She married Ezra Hodgkiss, a miner, at St James' Church Wolverhampton on 20 September 1866.  Ezra was born in Wolverhampton in 1844, and was the son of Cornelius Hodgkiss and his wife Elizabeth Smith.   The couple had four children, all born in Wolverhampton:

In 1871, Mary Ann was working as a grocer, but she died in Wolverhampton in 1874 aged just 31.  The 1881 census shows Ezra and the two surviving children in Barton-upon-Irwell, Lancashire, where he and his son were "contractors".  Samuel married in Cheshire in 1888, and both he and his father returned to Wolverhampton before 1891 to work in the iron industry.  Ezra died in Wolverhampton in 1900.  

Susannah Gregory was born in Brierley Hill, Staffordshire on 11 October 1844, and married Edward Lester, a puddler, in St Matthew's Church Wolverhampton on 7 February 1864.  Edward was born in Bilston, Staffordshire in 1841, and was the son of John Lester and his wife Ann.  Susannah and Edward had three children, all born in Bilston:

Susannah died in Wolverhampton in 1869, aged just 25, and Edward took Alice home to live with his parents for a while, before she went into domestic service as nurse in a banker's family.  Edward does not seem to have remarried, and continued to work as an iron puddler.

James Gregory was born in Tipton, Staffordshire on 31 August 1848, and married Emma Webster in Wolverhampton in 1870.  Emma was christened in Walsall on 4 January 1852, and was the daughter of David Webster and his wife Mary Ann Cross.  Her older sister Selina married James' brother John, so there was a double link between the families.

James and Emma had two daughters, both born in Walsall:

James died in Wolverhampton in 1917.

Enoch Gregory was born in Wolverhampton in 1854, and like his brothers worked as a gas tube fitter, and later as an electroplater.  His wife Emma was born in Birmingham in about 1861, and they had five children:

Enoch died in Birmingham in 1908, and Emma died in Coventry in 1929.

Eliza Gregory, daughter of John Gregory and Selina Webster, was born in Walsall in 1864, and married Henry James Drew there in 1883.  Henry was born in Bristol in 1863, and was the son of Henry Drew, a railway porter, and his wife Ann Elizabeth Maggs, who had brought their family to Walsall around 1870.  Henry's younger brother Edwin George Drew married Eliza's cousin Sabina Gregory. 

Eliza and Henry had four children, all born in Walsall:

Florence Gregory, daughter of John Gregory and Selina Webster, was born in Walsall in 1879, and married William Benton there in 1903.  William was born in Walsall in about 1878, and worked as a coal porter on the LNWR.

The couple had two sons:

Esther Ann Gregory was born in Wolverhampton in 1865, and her her birth was registered under her mother's maiden name of Goodwin.  After her mother's marriage to Samuel Gregory, Esther adopted that surname, following the common practice of the time.  In 1882, she married Thomas Morris, a toymaker born in Stourbridge, Worcestershire in 1860, the son of Charles Morris and his wife Sarah. 

Thomas and Esther had eight children:

Edgar Morris served as a private in the Yorkshire Regiment during WW1.

Eliza Edith Gregory, daughter of Samuel Gregory and Mary Ann Goodwin, was born in Wolverhampton in 1868, and married Fred Hedgecox there in 1894.  Fred was born in Heath, Staffordshire, and was the son of Richard Hedgecox and his wife Mary Briggs.  The couple had three children, all born in Wolverhampton:

The family moved to Manchester, where Edith died in 1906.  Fred then married Elizabeth Langshaw, a widow with two daughters from her previous marriage to Francis James Lee. 

Rosa Amy Gregory, youngest daughter of Samuel Gregory and Mary Ann Goodwin, was born in Wolverhampton in 1883, and married George Brookes there in 1906.  They had four children:

Sabina Gregory, older daughter of James Gregory and Emma Webster, was born in Wolverhampton in 1871, and married Edwin George Drew in Walsall in 1896.  Edwin was the third son of Henry Drew and his wife Ann Elizabeth Maggs, born in Walsall in 1873 after the family moved there from Bristol.  His older brother Henry James Drew married Sabina's cousin, Eliza Gregory. 

Sabina and Edwin had two sons, both born in Walsall:

Emma Gregory, younger daughter of James Gregory and Emma Webster, was born in Wolverhampton in 1874, and married William Henry Bamford in Walsall in 1896.  William was born in Walsall in 1872, and was the son of Edwin Bamford and his wife, Mary Robinson.  William and his father Edwin both worked on the railways as guards.

William and Emma had five children, all born in Walsall:

The Bamford family was living with Emma's parents in 1901, and Sydney was still with his grandparents in 1911.

Florence Gregory ("Florrie"), daughter of Enoch and Emma Gregory, was born in Ettingshall, Staffordshire in 1890, and married John Robert King in Coventry in 1910.  They had two children:

Florence Ada Drew, oldest daughter of Henry James Drew and Eliza Gregory, was born in Walsall on 25 January 1884, and married Edgar Dyoss there in 1907.  They had six sons, all born in Walsall:

Although most of the family remained in Walsall, both Harold and Ronald moved to Dorset, where they lived in Poole. 

Edgar died in Walsall in 1925 aged 44.

Clara Elizabeth Drew, daughter of Henry James Drew and Eliza Gregory, was born in Walsall on 19 September 1885, and married Edward Barlow there in 1906.  Edward was a harness maker, born in Birmingham in about 1885, and was the son of John Barlow and his wife Harriet. 

The couple had two sons:

Edward died in Walsall in 1957 and Clara in 1970.

Frank Drew, son of Henry James Drew and Eliza Gregory, was born in Walsall in 1888, and married Jane Elizabeth Thacker there in 1914.  They had one known daughter:

Henry John Drew, youngest child of Henry James Drew and Eliza Gregory, was born in Walsall in 1892 and married Rachel Swain there in 1916.  They had one known child:

Samuel Ezra Hodgkiss, oldest son of Ezra Hodgkiss and Mary Ann Gregory, was born in Wolverhampton in 1867 and married Sarah Ellen Cook at Christ Church, Wharton, Cheshire in 1888.  The couple had  ten children, all born in Wolverhampton:

Samuel died in Bilston in 1940, and Sarah in 1962.

William Ernest Drew, older son of Edwin George Drew and Sabina Gregory, was born in Walsall in 1898, and married Florence May Lee there in 1922.  The couple had one child:

William died in Walsall in 1983 and Florence in 1995.