Family Tree Mark Memorial Profiles
Reference

Family Profiles

Confirmed Facts & Source Records
← Back to Family Tree
Quick Navigation
Henry Gregson 1802–1885
Anne Kirkes 1808–1889
Maj Matthew Henry Gregson, RE 1846–1933
Col H.G.F.S. Gregson, CMG 1872–1949
Inez Mary Mowat Gilchrist 1877–?
Lt-Col John Henry Gregson, RA c.1904–?
Maj Mark Gilchrist Gregson, RA c.1909–1942
Martin James Gregson c.1910–?
Jane Gregson after 1911–?
Great-Great-Grandfather

Henry Gregson

16 October 1802, Lancaster – 2 September 1885, Moorlands, Lancaster
Confirmed
Born 16 October 1802, Lancaster, Lancashire
Parents Samuel Gregson + Bella Entwisle
Marriage 16 August 1837, St Mary’s, Lancaster, to Anne Kirkes (b. 9 Sep 1808, Liverpool)
Career Solicitor; Justice of the Peace; Mayor of Lancaster (1851, 1861)
Died 2 September 1885, Moorlands, Lancaster
Death Notice Berwick Advertiser, 25 September 1885 (Northumberland — notable for the geographic reach)
Probate 1885, #856

Sources

  • Birth registration
  • Lancaster parish marriages
  • BillionGraves headstone
  • Probate, 1885
  • Newspaper death notice (Berwick Advertiser)
Great-Great-Grandmother

Anne Kirkes

9 September 1808, Liverpool – 3 October 1889, Moorlands, Lancaster
Confirmed
Born 9 September 1808, Liverpool
Parents Moorcroft Kirkes (1783–1837) + Anne Timmins (1786–1859)
Marriage 16 August 1837, St Mary’s, Lancaster, to Henry Gregson
Died 3 October 1889, Moorlands, Lancaster
Burial 7 October 1889, Caton, St Paul, Lancashire
Family Note Sister Catherine married Thomas Fulljames (1808–1874), architect of the Shire Hall, Gloucester — hence “Fulljames” in grandson’s name
Children
  • Matthew Henry
  • Anne “Nettie”
  • Rose Ellen
  • Katherine Elizabeth
  • Samuel Moorlands

Sources

  • Lancaster parish marriages
  • BillionGraves headstone
  • Burial record, Caton St Paul
Great-Grandfather

Maj Matthew Henry Gregson

Royal Engineers
1846, Lancaster – 27 November 1933, Kensington, London
Confirmed
Born 1846, Lancaster, Lancashire
Parents Henry Gregson + Anne Kirkes
Career Major, Royal Engineers Confirmed — 1902 marriage register + 1911 Census
Postings India (by 1872, Indore) → School of Military Engineering, Brompton Barracks, Chatham (by 1881)
Marriage Mary Emma Griffith Savage (c. 1851, Halifax, Nova Scotia – 5 April 1906, London)
Wife’s Parents Lt-Gen Henry John Savage (1792–1866) + Clara Eleonore Mylius (1820–1903)
1911 Census Living with son’s family, age 65, “Major Royal Engineers Retired”
Died 27 November 1933, Kensington, London
Burial 30 November 1933, St Mary, Hendon
Children
  • Violet Mary
  • Geoffrey Kirkes
  • Henry Guy Fulljames Savage

Sources

  • 1881 Census — Brompton Barracks, Chatham
  • Devon parish marriage register, Sidmouth, 1902
  • 1911 Census
  • India Office births and baptisms
  • Burial record, St Mary, Hendon
Grandfather — Guy’s Father

Col Henry Guy Fulljames Savage Gregson

CMG
28 October 1872, Indore, India – 20 April 1949, Whitelackington, Somerset
Confirmed
Born 28 October 1872, Indore, Bengal Presidency, India (India Office baptism N-1-143)
Baptised 18 January 1873
Parents Maj Matthew Henry Gregson, RE + Mary Emma Griffith Savage
Education Rugby School (Meteor Magazine references)
1881 Census Age 8, “Scholar,” School of Military Engineering, Brompton Barracks
Commission The Buffs (East Kent Regiment)
Boer War Captain, attached Mounted Infantry. Wounded severely, thigh, Zoutspan Drift, 13 December 1899 (WO100/167)
Transfer Army Ordnance Department (post-wound)
Marriage 30 December 1902, Sidmouth, Devon, to Inez Mary Mowat Gilchrist. By licence.
1911 Census Major, Army Ordnance Department. Household of 10 in 9 rooms.
WWI Service France from 1 March 1915 (AOD). 1914-15 Star. Lt-Col by 1917.
CMG 1917 New Year Honours (London Gazette 29886)
1927 GWR executor at Cosham, Hampshire
1939 Colonel Retired. Old Vicarage, Seavington St Mary. Listed in Kelly’s Handbook of Distinguished People.
Died 20 April 1949
Burial Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Whitelackington (ledger stone)
India Office baptism record, Indore, 1872
India Office baptism record — born 28 October 1872, Indore. British Library, N-1-143.
1911 Census entry
1911 Census — Major, Army Ordnance Department. Household of ten in nine rooms, in Henry Guy’s own handwriting.
Marriage register, Sidmouth, 1902
Devon parish marriage register — Sidmouth, 30 December 1902.
1939 Register entry
1939 Register — Old Vicarage, Seavington St Mary. Colonel Retired.
London Gazette CMG announcement
London Gazette 29886 — CMG, 1917 New Year Honours.

Sources

  • India Office births and baptisms (British Library)
  • 1881 Census
  • Anglo-Boer War Records (WO100/167)
  • Devon parish marriage register, Sidmouth
  • 1911 Census
  • WWI Medal Index Card (WO 372)
  • London Gazette 29886
  • 1939 Register
  • Somerset Monumental Inscriptions
  • Civil Death Index (GRO) — Q2 1949, Chard
  • Burke’s Landed Gentry, 1972
  • Kelly’s Handbook of Distinguished People, 1939
India Office birth → Marriage register → 1911 Census → 1939 Register → London Gazette CMG →
Grandmother — Guy’s Mother

Inez Mary Mowat Gilchrist

5 April 1877, Central Provinces, India – unknown
Confirmed Death date unknown
Born 5 April 1877, Central Provinces, India (1911 Census)
Maiden Name Gilchrist Confirmed — Devon marriage register
“Mowat” is a middle name, not a maiden name.
Father William Gilchrist, Indian service Probably Public Works Department
Upbringing Raised by “Granny Cowan” — Elizabeth Inez Cowan witnessed the wedding
Marriage 30 December 1902, Sidmouth, Devon, to Col H.G.F.S. Gregson
1911 Census 4 children born alive, 4 living, 0 dead
1939 Register DOB 5 April 1877, Unpaid Domestic Duties, Married
Character “Tall, beautiful, quite strict” (Anna Cacanas). Kept hens and knew them all by name.
Known As “Pooje” (to the grandchildren)
Died Unknown

Sources

  • Devon parish marriage register, Sidmouth
  • 1911 Census
  • 1939 Register
  • CWGC Certificate — Mark Gilchrist Gregson (names mother as “Inez Mary Mowat”)
  • Marcus Gregson and Anna Cacanas testimony (H01)
Guy’s Elder Brother

Lt-Col John Henry Gregson

Royal Artillery
c. 1904, St Helena – unknown
Confirmed
Born c. 1904, St Helena (1911 Census: age 7)
Parents Col H.G.F.S. Gregson, CMG + Inez Mary Mowat Gilchrist
Service Lt-Col, Royal Artillery. Service no. 27918.
Commission Eldest of the three gunner brothers — commissioned first, c. 1923–24 (inferred from service number sequence)
Decoration Order of Orange Nassau with Swords (Netherlands), gazetted 20 March 1947 (London Gazette 37909)
The least documented of the three gunner brothers. His Order of Orange Nassau with Swords indicates service contributing to the liberation of the Low Countries in WWII.

Sources

  • 1911 Census
  • London Gazette 37909
Guy’s Younger Brother

Maj Mark Gilchrist Gregson

Royal Artillery
c. 1909, Devonport – 15 July 1942, Ruweisat Ridge, El Alamein
Killed in Action
Born c. 1909, Devonport (1911 Census: age 2)
Parents Col H.G.F.S. Gregson, CMG + Inez Mary Mowat Gilchrist
Middle Name “Gilchrist” — traditional tribute to his mother’s family
Service Major, 1st Field Regiment, Royal Artillery, 4th Indian Division. Service no. 40383.
Killed in Action 15 July 1942, Ruweisat Ridge, Operation Bacon, First Battle of El Alamein
Burial El Alamein War Cemetery, Plot XXI, Row D, Grave 19. No personal inscription.
Wife Christine Rozel Pigot Williams (b. 28 May 1910; d. September 1991, Chichester)
Wife’s Father Admiral Hugh Pigot Williams — Fleet Commander, Ottoman Navy, 1910–12
Wife’s Note “Rozel” = Rozel Bay, Jersey (grandmother Georgiana Isabella Ingouville of La Frégonnière). Remarried Henry Woodward after Mark’s death.
Mark Gregson headstone, El Alamein War Cemetery
Mark Gregson’s headstone — El Alamein War Cemetery, Plot XXI, Row D, Grave 19. No personal inscription.

Sources

  • CWGC Certificate
  • 1911 Census
  • Geni.com — Christine Woodward profile
  • RA 1939-45 records
  • Wikipedia (Admiral Hugh Pigot Williams)
CWGC Certificate → Headstone Photo →
View full memorial page for Mark Gregson →
Guy’s Younger Brother

Martin James Gregson

c. 1910, Devonport – unknown
Confirmed — 1911 Census No further records
Born c. 1910, Devonport (1911 Census: age 1)
Parents Col H.G.F.S. Gregson, CMG + Inez Mary Mowat Gilchrist
Middle Name “James” — the only detail the 1911 Census adds beyond his existence
Martin James’s life after childhood is undocumented in the records assembled so far. The 1911 Census confirms his birth at Devonport, but no further military, civil, or church records have been located.

Sources

  • 1911 Census
Guy’s Youngest Sibling

Jane Gregson

Born after April 1911 – unknown
Confirmed youngest — 1911 Census
Born After April 1911 — not yet born at the time of the 1911 Census (Inez reports 4 children, all living)
Parents Col H.G.F.S. Gregson, CMG + Inez Mary Mowat Gilchrist
Married Surname unknown
Daughter Anna Cacanas
Significance Anna Cacanas’s memories of visiting the grandparents at Whitelackington are the sole surviving first-hand account of Henry Guy and Inez’s household.

Sources

  • Marcus Gregson and Anna Cacanas testimony (H01)
Shared Image

The Five Children

The five Gregson children, c. 1913-16
The five children, c. 1913–16. Guy on the right, already in a suit jacket and tie; then John; Mark; Martin; and Jane, the youngest, in white.
Gregson signet ring with battleaxe crest
The Gregson signet ring — an armoured cubit arm with diagonal wavy bands, holding a battleaxe, mounted on a torse. Matches “Gregson of Lowlyn, Durh.” in Fairbairn’s Book of Crests (1905). Motto: Vigilo — “I keep watch.”
← Back to Family Tree