David Gregory (1696–16 September 1767) was an English churchman and academic, Dean of Christ Church, Oxford and the first

Regius Professor of Modern History at Oxford The Regius Professor of History at the University of Oxford is a long-established professorial position. Holders of the title have often been medieval historians. The first appointment was made in 1724. The term "Regius" reflects the origins of t ...

Life

He was the son of David Gregory (1661–1708), the mathematician. Two years after his father's death Gregory was admitted a queen's scholar of

Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It derives from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the 1066 Norman Conquest, as d ...

, from which in 1714 he was elected to Christ Church. He graduated B.A. 8 May 1718, and M.A. 27 June 1721, and on 18 April 1724 became the first Professor of Modern History and Languages at Oxford. He soon afterwards took orders and was appointed rector of

Semley Semley is a village in Sedgehill and Semley civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about north-east of Shaftesbury in neighbouring Dorset. The hamlet of Sem Hill lies about a quarter of a mile west of the village. The River Sem, from which the ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershir ...

; proceeding B.D. 13 March 1731 and D.D. in the following year (7 July 1732). He continued to hold his professorship till 1736, when he resigned it on his appointment to a

canonry A canon (from the Latin , itself derived from the Greek , , "relating to a rule", "regular") is a member of certain bodies in subject to an ecclesiastical rule. Originally, a canon was a cleric living with others in a clergy house or, later, i ...

in Christ Church Cathedral (installed 8 June). While canon (1750) he repaired and adorned Christ Church Hall, and presented to it busts of kings George I and George II. He was promoted to the deanery (installed 18 May 1756). Under his directions while dean the upper rooms in the college library were finished (1761), and he is said to have restored the terraces in the great quadrangle (

Tom Quad The Great Quadrangle, more popularly known as Tom Quad, is one of the quadrangles of Christ Church, Oxford, England. It is the largest college quad in Oxford, measuring 264 by 261 feet. Although it was begun by Cardinal Wolsey in 1525–1529, ...

). On 15 September 1759 he was also appointed Master of

Sherburn Hospital Sherburn Hospital (also known as Christ's Hospital in Sherburn) is a medieval hospital located in the hamlet of Sherburn House to the southeast of Durham, England. History The hospital was founded in 1181 by Hugh de Puiset (Bishop Pudsey), to ca ...

, County Durham, where he started to cut down a wood on the hospital estates, and with the proceeds from the timber improved the accommodation, as mentioned by an anonymous eulogy ''Essay on the Life of David Gregory, late Dean of Christ Church, London'' (1769). In 1761 he was

prolocutor A prolocutor is a chairman of some ecclesiastical assemblies in Anglicanism. Usage in the Church of England In the Church of England, the Prolocutor is chair of the lower house of the Convocations of Canterbury and York, the House of Clergy. The ...

of the lower

Convocation House Convocation House is the lower floor of the 1634–1637 westward addition to the University of Oxford's Bodleian Library and Divinity School in Oxford, England. It adjoins the Divinity School, which pre-dates it by just over two hundred years, ...

. He died at the age of seventy-one, 16 September 1767, and was buried under a plain slab with a short Latin inscription in the cathedral, his wedding ring tied to his finger. Gregory was a considerable benefactor both to his college and Sherburne Hospital.

Works

Gregory wrote Latin verses, and testified his loyalty by Latin poems on the death of George I and the accession of George II, lamenting also in verse the death of the latter, and congratulating George III when he succeeded his grandfather.

Family

He was son-in-law to

Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Kent Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Kent, KG, PC (16715 June 1740) was a British politician and courtier. None of his sons outlived him, so his new title became extinct on his death. Though the house he built at Wrest Park in Bedfordshire has gone, par ...

, having married Lady Mary Grey, who died before him (in 1762, aged 42), and lies in the same grave.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gregory, David 1696 births 1767 deaths Deans of Christ Church, Oxford Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Regius Professors of History (University of Oxford)