Recording Pioneers


Charles Butler GREGORY  1880 - 1946   arrowarrow PIONEER    PARENTS    LIFE    NOTES    LABELS    PHOTOS    THANK YOU

PIONEERRESPOND

Charles Butler GREGORY  1880 - 1946

aka Charles B. Gregory, C. B. Gregory, Charles Gregory, C. Gregory
nationality
occupation
birth .. Jan/Feb/Mar 1881, St George Hanover Square, Middlesex, ENGLAND
baptism
death 25 Jan 1946, The Cottage Hospital, Hendon, Middlesex (64y) (see footnote in Fred Gaisberg's Music on Record, p. 261) (GRO/D 3a 812)
burial
marriage married .. Oct/Nov/Dec 1910 in Richmond, Surrey:
Viola Annie GREENWOOD

b. .. Jan/Feb/Mar 1882, Camberwell, UK
d. .. Oct/Nov/Dec 1963, Christchurch, Hampshire, UK



PARENTS

father John GREGORY

b. .. Oct/Nov/Dec 1854, Lewisham, Kent, ENGLAND
d. ...............

mother Amelia Elizabeth READ

b. .. Apr/May/June 1856, Exeter
d. 14 Sep 1919, Ewell Grove, Ewell, Surrey (63y)

remark (Amelia's father's name was John Crow (John C.) READ. Her mother's maiden name was Amelia BUTLER)
marriage They got married in 8 Sep 1878, Battersea, St Mary, Wandsworth.
children
  • John Clements

    b. 17 May 1879, Clapham, Surrey
    d. 21 Feb 1958, New York City, USA

  • Charles Butler

    b. .. Feb 1881, St George Hanover Square, Middlesex, ENGLAND
    d. 25 Jan 1946, The Cottage Hospital, Hendon, Middlesex


LIFE


1881 England Wales Free BDM Index (Birth) (Vol. 1a, page 457)
Registered Jan/Feb/Mar, 1881
Charles Butler GREGORY, St. Geo. H. Sq. (District)


1881 CENSUS of England and Wales (3 Apr 1881, 88 Wellington Building, St George Hanover Square)
John GREGORY (26y ; b. Lewisham, Kent, ENGLAND) performer
Amelia E. GREGORY (24y ; b. Exeter, Devon, ENGLAND)
- Charles B. (1m ; b. St. Geo. Hanover Sq., Middlesex)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1881 CENSUS of England and Wales (.. Apr 1881, 53 Cathcart Rd., St Mary Abbotts, Kensington, London)
Charles GREGORY (58y ; b. Clerkenwell, Middlesex) printer
Elizabeth GREGORY (58y ; b. Holborn, Middlesex)
- Elizabeth (28y ; b. Kingsland, Middlesex)
- Emma (24y ; b. Lewisham, Kent)
- Oscar H. (22y ; b. Homerton. Middlesex)
- Edgar S. (18y ; b. Homerton. Middlesex)
- Edward B. (15y ; b. Dalston, Middlesex))
= John C. (age 1 ; b. Clapham, Surrey) grandson



1885 Parish Registers - London England Births and Baptisms
Parish of St. John's, Fulham, Middlesex (Index lists Walham Green, Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham)
Oct. 28, 1885, Charles Butler, (son of) John and Amelia GREGORY, 5, Barclay Road, ship's purser


1891 CENSUS of England and Wales (.... 1891, Fulham, London)
Charles GREGORY (68y ; b. Clerkenwell, Middlesex, ENGLAND) printer
Elizabeth GREGORY (68y ; b. Holborn, Middlesex, ENGLAND)
- Emma (34y)




Chas GREGORY (11y) settler
+ John GREGORY (14y) settler
SS "THE CHESTER"
dep: .. June 1893, Southampton
arr: 20 June 1893, New York
Destination: Washington
(Ellis Island, #0043 and #0045 on page 0249)



Chas B. GREGORY (17y) clerk
+ Jno (= John) C. GREGORY (19y) clerk
SS "CAMPANIA"
dep: .. June 1898, New York
arr: 25 June 1898, Liverpool


1900 US CENSUS (June 1900, Borough of Manhattan, 122 East 26th St., New York City Ward 25, New York County, New York)
Chas B. GREGORY (19y ; b. .. Feb 1881, England ; single) lodger clerk and bookkeeper
John C. GREGORY (21y ; b. .. May 1879, England ; single) lodger sculptor
Immigration year: 1893



1901 CENSUS of England and Wales (31 Mar 1901, Barnes, Surrey)
Amelia GREGREY (sic) = GREGORY (44y) Head



1910 England and Wales Free BMD Marriage Index (Vol. 2a page 971)
Registration Oct, Nov., Dec. 1910, Richmond District, Surrey County
Viola A. GREENWOOD
Charles B. GREGORY


1910 US CENSUS (.... 1910, Borough of Manhattan, New York)
John C. GREGORY (30y ; b. .... England ; single) lodger sculptor
Immigration year: 1893



1911 CENSUS of England and Wales (.... 1911, Barnes, Surrey)
Charles GREGORY, head (30y ; b. Chelsea, London ; married) gramophone recording engineer
Viola, wife (29y ; b. Brixton, London ; married)
signed by Charles Gregory, 21 Brookwood Avenue, Barnes, SW
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1911 CENSUS of England and Wales (.... 1911, Barnes, Surrey)
Amelia Elizabeth GREGORY (53y ; b. Exeter, Devonshire; widow) breeder of dogs
Total children born alive: 2
Total children still living: 2
Postal address: 28 Gerard Rd., Barnes, Surrey



1919 National Probate Calendar Index of Wills and Administrations
Amelia Elizabeth GREGORY of 25 (or 28?) Gerard Road, Barnes, Surrey, widow, died Sept. 14, 1919.


Charles Butler Gregory began working for the Columbia Phonograph Company in 1894 (according to Herbert C. Ridout he joined Columbia in 1895, but there is ample evidence for 1894)
According to Fred Gaisberg Charles Gregory joined him at Columbia November 1893 [I think this should be 1894 - HS], Washington DC (source: unpublished typescript article, entitled 'Charlie Gregory's fifty years of talking machine', by Fred Gaisberg.
In 1899 he went to (mainland) Europe (from the UK or the USA?) in connection with Columbia's first European recordings (see: EMI book, p. 92-93/95/102/120/129).
In 1900 he arrived (from somewhere in Europe?) in London.
Charles B. Gregory died on 25 Jan 1946, at The Cottage Hospital, Hendon, Middlesex (source: footnote on p. 261 of Fred Gaisberg's Music on Record) and "A Gramophone Pioneer Passes: An Appreciation of Charles B. Gregory" by Herbert C. Ridout (The Gramophone of March 1946, p. 19)
(address: 14 Rodborough Road, Hendon, Midlesex)


About his brother John Clements GREGORY:
A sculptor, medalist, and teacher, John Clements Gregory came to the U.S. at age 14 and spent most of his life in New York City. Of him it was written that he "transformed classical themes into a modernist aesthetic." (Falk) As an educator, he was a professor of art at Columbia University from 1916-25, and Chair of the Sculpture Department of the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design from 1921-23. A medallic artist, he was a member of the Society of Medalists.

Anthony de Francisci created many medals and reliefs to commemorate important events and individuals, but he also sculpted portraits that signal his affection and respect for friends, many of whom were fellow artists. This portrait honors John Clements Gregory, an American sculptor who won a fellowship to Rome and also studied at the Art Students League in New York City. Gregory eventually became an associate of the National Academy of Design and had a long career as an educator. This artist’s strike, or sample, represents the obverse of a portrait medal and recognizes Gregory’s standing as a fellow at the American Academy in Rome.


NOTES

  • 100 years EMI by Peter Martland (the website picture of Gregory comes from this book)
  • Music on Record by Fred Gaisberg
  • A Voice in Time by Jerrold Northrop Moore (pp. 13, note 1; 215, 217-218, 221)
    On p. 13, note 1 it says: Typescript article, 'Charlie Gregory's fifty years of talking machine', by Fred Gaisberg [Who has this article? - HS]
  • series of articles entitled Behind the Needle by Herbert C. Ridout (in: The Gramophone (1941-1943))
  • Fifty Years in Recording (in: The Gramophone of December 1944, p. 16)
  • A Gramophone Pioneer Passes: An Appreciation of Charles B. Gregory by Herbert C. Ridout (The Gramophone of March 1946, p. 19)
  • Recording History: The British Record Industry, 1888-1931 by Peter Martland



PHOTOS

Charles Gregory
The recording by Columbia of Thomas Gray's "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" in
Stoke Poges Churchyard (ca 1934).
Standing (left to right): the Sexton, the Organist, the Churchwarden, the Vicar Rev.
Mervyn Clare (all of Stoke Poges), Charles Gregory (behind the microphone), Ion Swinley
(recitation) and "Bud" Batten.
Seated (left to right): W. S. Purser (technical chief), Joe Batten and the Vicar's wife or
Mrs. (Viola) Gregory
Doublesided 78rpm disc released on Columbia
(From Joe Batten's Book: The Story of Sound Recording)
Letter from Louis Sterling to Charles Gregory.
Letter from John Cromelin to Charles Gregory.



THANK YOU


Dave Mason
George Brock-Nannestad
Leslie C. Gage
Michael Lloyd-Davies
Martha Kelley