Joshua Gregory (1790 – 20 August 1838) was an early settler in colonial

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. Two of his sons, Augustus Charles and

Francis Thomas Francis Thomas (February 3, 1799 – January 22, 1876) was an American politician who served as the 26th Governor of Maryland from 1842 to 1845. He also served as a United States Representative from Maryland, representing at separate times the ...

, became renowned

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n explorers. Joshua Gregory entered the army in 1805 as an

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in the 78th Highlanders (

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Buffs). At the age of 16 he saw active service when his regiment was sent to

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

at the height of the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

. He was part of the successful campaign at

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, followed by the unsuccessful

Alexandria expedition of 1807 The Alexandria expedition of 1807, also known as the Fraser expedition (), was an unsuccessful attempt by United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, British forces to capture the Egyptian city of Alexandria during the Anglo-Turkish War (1807� ...

, where Gregory was severely wounded. In April 1807 he was sent back to

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to recover, then rejoined his battalion for the successful invasion of Java. In Java, Gregory, by then a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

, began suffering from ill health. He was posted to

Fort George, Scotland Fort George is a large 18th-century fortress near Ardersier, to the north-east of Inverness in the Highland (council area), Highland council area of Scotland. It was built to control the Scottish Highlands in the aftermath of the Jacobite rising ...

, but his health continued to deteriorate, and in 1818 he was forced to retire on half-pay. On 14 June 1812, while stationed at Fort George, Joshua Gregory married Frances Churchman. By 1825 they had five surviving children, and Gregory had difficulty supporting his family on his pension. In 1829, the Gregory family emigrated to

, arriving on the ''

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'' four months after the establishment of the

Swan River Colony The Swan River Colony, also known as the Swan River Settlement, or just ''Swan River'', was a British colony established in 1829 on the Swan River, in Western Australia. This initial settlement place on the Swan River was soon named Perth, an ...

. He was initially granted land on the left bank of the Swan River, but the soil was poor, and he later obtained other grants at Maylands and in the Upper Swan district. He was later appointed a Justice of the Peace. On 20 August 1838, he died after a long illness.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gregory, Joshua 1790 births 1838 deaths Settlers of Western Australia Australian justices of the peace Date of birth unknown Place of birth unknown British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars