Irvine Egerton Gray MBE FSA (4 April 1903 – 27 March 1992) was an

antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artefacts, archaeological and historic si ...

and archivist of

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

. He served in the British Army during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, rising to the rank of major in the Intelligence Corps, and after the war worked as records officer for Gloucestershire County Council. A member of the

Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society The Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society is a learned society concerned with the history and antiquities of the City of Bristol and the historic county of Gloucestershire. It was founded on 21 April 1876; and is a registered charity ...

, he was the author and editor of a number of works on the

history of Gloucestershire The region now known as Gloucestershire was originally inhabited by Brythonic peoples (ancestors of the Welsh and English and other Romano-British peoples) in the Iron Age and Roman periods. After the Romans left Britain in the early 5th centu ...

Early life and family

Irvine Gray was born on 4 April 1903Irvine Egerton Gray England and Wales Death Registration Index 1837–2007.
Family Search. Retrieved 28 April 2019. in Earls Court, London, to Charles Herbert Gray, an insurance clerk, and his wife Ada Maude Oliver.Gray, Irvine Egerton (1903–1992), archivist and antiquary.
National Archives. Retrieved 28 April 2019. He was educated at the private

Ipswich School Ipswich School is a public school (English fee-charging boarding and day school) for pupils aged 3 to 18 in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. North of the town centre, Ipswich School has four parts on three adjacent sites. The Pre-Prep and Nur ...

.Gray, Irvine. (1981) ''Antiquaries of Gloucestershire and Bristol''. Bristol: Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society. pp. 7–15. Belgian official records show him in

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

sometime between 1916 and 1930. He married Margaret M. Latto in London in 1935. The couple had three children, Faith (born 23 November 1937), Philippa (born 21 January 1940) and

Oliver Oliver may refer to: Arts, entertainment and literature Books * ''Oliver the Western Engine'', volume 24 in ''The Railway Series'' by Rev. W. Awdry * ''Oliver Twist'', a novel by Charles Dickens Fictional characters * Ariadne Oliver ...

(born 7 September 1948).

Career

In 1931, Gray produced a translation into English of

Antoine de La Sale Antoine de la Sale (also ''la Salle'', ''de Lasalle''; 1385/861460/61) was a French courtier, educator and writer. He participated in a number of military campaigns in his youth and he only began writing when he had reached middle age, in the late ...

's ''Le Petit Jehan de Saintré'' under the title ''Little John of Saintré'' which was positively reviewed in ''

History History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

''. In 1935, his history of the

General Accident General Accident plc was a large insurance business based in Perth, Scotland. It merged with Commercial Union in 1998 to form CGU plc. History The Norie-Miller years The Employers' Liability Act 1880 ( 43 & 44 Vict. c. 42) opened a new are ...

insurance company was published under the title ''Business Epic 1885–1935''. He served in the British Army during the Second World War, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant on 14 October 1939 rising to the rank of major in the Intelligence Corps, and was awarded the MBE in King

George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until Death and state funeral of George VI, his death in 1952 ...

1945 Birthday Honours The King's Birthday Honours 1945, celebrating the official birthday of King George VI, were announced on 14 June 1945 for the United Kingdom and British Empire.United Kingdom and British Empire: The recipients of the Birthday Honours are displa ...

. After the war, Gray was records officer for the

Gloucestershire County Council Gloucestershire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Gloucestershire, in England. The council was created in 1889. The council's principal functions are county roads and rights of way, social servi ...

and he began to write on the history of the county, producing a large number of articles and books, some edited, many of which were published by the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society or printed in their journal. His first local history book was a guide to county records for the

Historical Association The Historical Association is a membership organisation of historians and scholars founded in 1906 and based in London. Its goals are to support "the study and enjoyment of history at all levels by creating an environment that promotes lifelong lea ...

(1948), jointly with Frederick Emmison. He followed that with a history of his ''alma mater'', Ipswich School, written with William Potter and published in 1950. In 1951, he gave an account of his work at the Gloucestershire Record Office in which he described records received into their care that dated back to the medieval period and had been saved from wartime paper " salvage" drives or found in bank vaults or attics. Five sacks of records, covering 700 years, were retrieved from a damp potting-shed and found to include medieval deeds, court rolls, and a grant from King Henry II of 1152–1154. Other books and articles followed, his final publication being his collation of the ''Antiquaries of Gloucestershire and Bristol'' in 1981 that gave biographical profiles of 52 antiquarians of that county from

William Worcester William Worcester (c. 1415 – c. 1482) was an English antiquary, author, and historian known for his detailed writings on medieval England. He served as the secretary to Sir John Fastolf, a prominent military commander during the Hundred Year ...

(1414–1480s) to

Roland Austin Roland (; ; or ''Rotholandus''; or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the Matter of France. The historical Roland was milit ...

(1874–1954). He was a fellow of the

Society of Antiquaries of London The Society of Antiquaries of London (SAL) is a learned society of historians and archaeologists in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1707, received its royal charter in 1751 and is a Charitable organization, registered charity. It is based ...

Death

Gray died in

Basingstoke Basingstoke ( ) is a town in Hampshire, situated in south-central England across a valley at the source of the River Loddon on the western edge of the North Downs. It is the largest settlement in Hampshire without city status in the United King ...

, Hampshire, on 27 March 1992. His address at the time of his death was 24 Lloyd Square, London, WC1. He left an estate of less than £125,000.

Selected publications

Books

* ''Little John of Saintré = Le Petit Jehan de Saintré'', by Antoine de La Sale; translated for the first time into English with an introduction by Irvine Gray. London: G. Routledge & Sons, 1931. (

Broadway Medieval Library Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

series) * ''A Business Epic 1885–1935''. Perth and London: General Accident Fire and Life Assurance Corporation,

935 Year 935 ( CMXXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Spring – Arnulf I ("the Bad") of Bavaria invades Italy, crossing through the Upper Adige (modern Tyrol). He proceeds ...

* ''County Records''. London: George Philip & Son, for the Historical Association, 1948; revised eds., London: Historical Association, 1961 & 1967. (With

Frederick George Emmison Frederick George "Derick" Emmison (28 May 1907 – 9 November 1995) was a British archivist, author and historian. He was County Archivist for Bedfordshire between 1925 and 1938, County Archivist for Essex between 1938 and 1969, a founder memb ...

) * ''Ipswich School, 1400–1950''. Ipswich: W. E. Harrison & Sons, 1950. (With William Edward Potter) * Hyett, Francis Adams. ''Glimpses of the History of Painswick ... A New Edition with a Foreword by W. I. Groome''. Gloucester: British Publishing Co., 1957. (Editor) * ''The Registers of the Church of St. Mary, Dymock, 1538–1790: baptisms and burials 1538–1788; marriages 1538–1790''. Bristol: Bristol & Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, 1960. (Editor with

John Eric Gethyn-Jones Canon John Eric Gethyn-Jones MBE FSA (9 October 1909 – 9 November 1995) was a clergyman and historian of Gloucestershire. He served in the Royal Army Chaplains' Department during the Second World War for which he was awarded the MBE in 1945. L ...

) * ''Guide to the Parish Records of the City of Bristol and the County of Gloucester''. Bristol: Bristol & Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, 1963. (Editor with Elizabeth Ralph) * ''Cheltenham Settlement Examinations, 1815–1826''. Bristol: Bristol & Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, 1969. (Editor) * ''Antiquaries of Gloucestershire and Bristol''. Bristol: Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society 1981.

Articles

''Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society'':Search results.
Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, 28 April 2019.
"Some Recent Discoveries in Local Records"
Vol. 70 (1951), pp. 106–118.
"Ralph Bigland and his Family"
Vol. 75, pp. 116–133.
"The Lysons Family"
Vol. 81, pp. 212–213.
"Some Early Records of Frocester"
Vol. 82, pp. 143–147.
"Some 17th-century Token-issuers"
Vol. 84, pp. 101–109.
"Gloucestershire Records: A Retrospect"
Vol. 87, pp. 5–13.
"The Sternhold Mystery"
Vol. 87, pp. 209–212. * "A Berkeley Ransom", Vol. 88, pp. 213–215.
"Jemmy Wood's Journal"
, Vol. 90, pp. 158–177.
"Shakespeare's Cousin, Thomas Greene"
Vol. 92, pp. 213–215.
"A Gloucestershire Postscript to the 'Domesday of Inclosures'"
Vol. 97, pp. 75–80.
"The Severn Bore"
, Vol. 97, pp. 123–126.
"Records of four Tewkesbury Vicars, c. 1685–1769"
Vol. 102, pp. 155–172. Others:
"The Making of Westbury Court Gardens"
''Occasional Paper'', Garden History Society, No. 1 (1969), pp. 15–18.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Irvine 1903 births 1992 deaths Historians of Gloucestershire People educated at Ipswich School English antiquarians Historians of Bristol Intelligence Corps officers British Army personnel of World War II Members of the Order of the British Empire English archivists English non-fiction writers Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London