John Gregory

John Gregory (14 July 1831 – 20 May 1922) was a shoemaker, poet, peace activist and trade unionist, sometimes referred to as 'the poet-shoemaker of Bristol' or the 'poet cobbler'. He has been called "a pioneering figure in the development of an independent working-class movement in Bristol". Life John Gregory was born in Bideford, Devon on 14 July 1831. His father was a clerk in a merchant's office, and a well-respected Wesleyan preacher. His mother died in 1854. Gregory had limited schooling, and was apprenticed into shoemaking in 1842, aged 11. During his apprenticeship, he met Edward Capern, known as 'the postman-poet', who was a significant influence on the young Gregory. His first literary work was published in the North Devon Journal. Following seven years as an apprentice, Gregory migrated to Bristol, returning to Devon in 1852, and subsequently finding work in Tenby, Aberavon, and Swansea.  In 1856, in Bristol where Gregory had travelled to help a sick friend, he met his future wife, Ann Arman, who he married after courtship of five weeks. They moved to Bristol in 1860. One of their sons was Sir Richard Gregory, 1st Baronet, science writer and editor of Nature. The couple lived to celebrate their diamond wedding anniversary in 1916. Political activism Writing after his death, Justice described Gregory as becoming actively involved with the working class movement immediately upon moving to Bristol in 1860, and remaining so for the rest of his life.He was one of the founders of the Co-operative movement in the Western city, and a pioneer in the Trade Union movement, being at one time president of the Bristol Trades Council. In his earlier years he was associated with the Radical Reform movement, but... he early threw in his lot with the Bristol Socialist Society. For the B.S.S. he was always a willing and active worker...Gregory was described as "one of a pioneer band of social reformers, actively engaged in establishing the socialist and labour movements", grouped alongside others including Ben Tillett, Jim O’Grady, and Ramsay MacDonald. According to historian Gerrard Sables, Gregory was "a strong supporter of the North in the American Civil War, of national independence movements in Poland and Ireland, and a prominent local campaigner against imperialism and the death penalty."