John Edgar Gregan (1813–1855), was a Scottish

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

. Gregan was born at

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; ; from ) is a market town and former royal burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, near the mouth of the River Nith on the Solway Firth, from the Anglo-Scottish border. Dumfries is the county town of the Counties of Scotland, ...

on 18 December 1813. He studied architecture first under

Walter Newall Walter Newall (3 April 1780 – 25 December 1863) was a Scottish architect and civil engineer, born at Doubledyke in the parish of New Abbey in the historic county of Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland. He was the leading architect in the Dumfries ar ...

and afterwards at Manchester under

Thomas Witlam Atkinson Thomas Witlam Atkinson (1799–1861) was an England, English architect, artist and traveller in Siberia and Central Asia. Between 1847 and 1853 he travelled over 40 000 miles through Central Asia and Siberia, much of the time together with his wife ...

. He commenced practice on his own account in 1840, and was engaged on many important buildings erected in Manchester during the next fifteen years, including the churches of St James'

Breightmet Breightmet is a neighbourhood of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. The population at the 2011 census was 13,584. Historically a township of the civil and ecclesiastical parish of Bolton le Moors in the Salford hundred of Lancashire, it lie ...

, St Peter's, Belmont, St John,

Longsight Longsight is an inner city area of Manchester, England, south of the Manchester City Centre, city centre, bounded by Ardwick and Gorton, West Gorton to the north and east; Levenshulme to the south; and Chorlton-on-Medlock, Victoria Park, Man ...

, and St John,

Miles Platting Miles Platting is an inner city part of Manchester, England, northeast of Manchester city centre along the Rochdale Canal and A62 road, bounded by Monsall to the north, Collyhurst to the west, Newton Heath to the east, and Bradford, Holt T ...

; the warehouses of Robert Barbour and Thomas Ashton, and the bank of Sir Benjamin Heywood & Co. in St. Ann's Street. His last work was the design for the new

Mechanics' Institution Mechanics' institutes, also known as mechanics' institutions, sometimes simply known as institutes, and also called schools of arts (especially in the Australian colonies), were educational establishments originally formed to provide adult educ ...

in David Street (later renamed Princess Street). His zeal for art and education led him to take much interest in various local institutions. He was elected to membership of the

Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society The Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, popularly known as the Lit. & Phil., is one of the oldest learned societies in the United Kingdom and second oldest provincial learned society (after the Spalding Gentlemen's Society). Promi ...

on 25 January 1848 https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/74442#page/30/mode/1up , he acted as honorary secretary of the

Royal Institution The Royal Institution of Great Britain (often the Royal Institution, Ri or RI) is an organisation for scientific education and research, based in the City of Westminster. It was founded in 1799 by the leading British scientists of the age, inc ...

, assisted materially in the success of the local school of art, and sat as a member of the committee which undertook the formation of the

Manchester Free Library The Manchester Free Library opened on 5 September 1852 in Manchester, England. It was the first public library in England to be set up under the provisions of the Public Libraries Act 1850, which allowed local authorities to impose a local tax of o ...

. On the visit of the

British Archæological Association The British Archaeological Association (BAA) was founded in 1843 and aims to inspire, support and disseminate high quality research in the fields of Western archaeology, art and architecture, primarily of the mediaeval period, through lectures, con ...

to Manchester, he read a paper entitled 'Notes on Humphrey Chetham and his Foundation,' which is printed in the association's journal for 1851. He died at York Place, Manchester, on 29 April 1855, aged 42, and was buried in St. Michael's churchyard,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gregan, John Edgar People from Dumfries 19th-century Scottish architects 1813 births 1855 deaths