Help! My flippin' Gregorys always on the move! Where did John (Io) come from?

[yvonne burgess]

Known: John Greg(g)ory married Elizabeth Cowley at St Chad's, Shrewsbury in 1707.  She could have been his second (or even third) wife as one of his daughters married in 1714 in Hanmer.  He has Hanmer connection and left money to poor and church there as well as Prees and Whitchurch, where he was buried in Dec. 1729/30 (An 'old man' of Twemlows Farm, Ash Parva).  He moved to Twemlows 1713 (Leasehold) with three sons John, Humphrey & William.  John b 1708 Whitchurch, no trace of others and Humphrey from a previous marriage together with Jane, Deborah, Mary & Margaret. Shropshire RO have 'lost' the lease plus other items they were given in 1975 for the family. 
Mormons assign him to John and Margaret Hunt and born 1682 but this doesn't fit with the 'old man' bit and is tight for daughter's marriage.
Can anyone finding a Humphrey Gregory bapt around 1695 or so or a trace of a John moving to Ash Parva please let me know.  Have a likely Deborah bapt 1705 at Hanmer and a Margaret 1700 at St Chad but cousins locally. He had a pew in Whitchurch parish church.
May be the John Gregory granted freedom of Chester 1681 who married a Miss Ridge (?way) as they have Chester and Shrewsbury connections and also with Higginson & Henry families, among others.    Any suggestions welcomed

[wrjones]

I do hope your John wasn't born pre 1700 in Whitchurch?When I went to Shropshire RO to look for my Lea relatives,only the father's name is given in the entries!

Regards
William Russell Jones.

[yvonne burgess]

Hi, William,
               Most definitely born before 1700 and Whitchurch, Whixall, Prees (where they had land) or Hanmer area likely.  Despite a plethora of John Gregorys (every family had one) only one entry at Whitchurch has an age or indication of age on ie and as you say, fathers name only leaving me with at least 24 between Whitchurch and Shrewsbury to eliminate.  No, I don't want sympathy and I was trained as an analyst but this has yet to be solved!  What are the chances?

[wrjones]

Quite frankly it doesn't look too good.Your best chance is to look for others who may also have his descendants in their tree.

Regards
William Russell Jones.

[yvonne burgess]

If the urge to solve this gets too strong, I guess DNA (as recommended for any Mc Gregor associates) is an answer but it is expensive for female lines.  It doesn't help that the family switched to Williams, Hood-Gregory and other variants, went into non-conformity  and family surname spellings are not consistent, without them buzzing up and down the country like swarming bees!  Wills have been my best aid so far.

[roger42]

Hi Yvonne

If you look up John Pridden in the DNB, you will find his wife Anne Gregory was the daughter of Humphrey Gregory of Twemlows in  Whitchurch. This Humphrey married Ann Key in Whitchurch 30 Dec 1730.
Ann Key was related to Matthew Henry, a very well-known Presbyterian, and Humphrey and Ann baptised all their children at Doddington Presbyterian Chapel, which congeregation dates from 1672.  Ann’s baptism is not recorded, but there appears to be a gap in the registers when she would have been.
I have always assumed this Humphrey Gregory was the son of the John Gregory and Elizabeth Cowley who you cite, who moved to Twemlows in c1713.
I too have failed to find either of their parents. I suppose it is possible they too were Presbyterian, and had their children baptised privately.
John Pridden had a son Humphrey Gregory Pridden, and another, Reverend John Pridden, who officiated at Admiral Nelson’s funeral.
I have an image of John Pridden with a very detailed obituary.  He was my wife’s 5great grandfather.

Email address removed, please use the Private message function

Regards
Roger Davies

[yvonne burgess]

Hi, Roger,
                Have sent you an e-mail re the Gregorys, etc.
Very interested to see that your wife is descended from John Pridden, who is recorded as having no children from either Ann Nicholls or Anne Pickwood.  I came across a birth in 1797 which appeared to be his child and assumed it had died.  Can I have details of the link, please?   Oee of HGP's children was apparently known as John in later life, too.