Deborah Lundbech's photos with the keyword: William Alfred Gregory

My grandfather in WW1. He was a Conscientious Objector but served on the ambulance crew at Gallipoli and also in Egypt with the Red Cross. He rarely ever talked about his war experiences to his family. He lost two brothers in the war, within weeks of each other. This has been an absolutely amazing few weeks for me for family connections. (4/10) This wonderful portrait was sent to me from a relative in England who found me through a photograph in my Gregory Set. www.flickr.com/photos/dlundbech/3554112591/in/set-7215761... Not only have I never seen this photo of my Grandad before but my mother has never seen it (she never saw any picture of him from the War.) Alix - my fourth cousin - kindly sent me others,(equally amazing) - that I will post shortly. This in addition to connecting with close (unknown) relatives on my Dad's side - with previously unseen photos - and finding out info about my husband's family.

My Grandad - William Alfred Gregory. Apprenticed as a printer at the age of fourteen or younger and was a printer in London until he retired. This is a portrait from a locket. Is he the young man on the right in paws22 's print shop picture? My Children's Great Grandfather. Boys-Me>Hazel>William Alfred Gregory If I had to choose one word to describe my Grandad it would be scrupulous. He dressed fastidiously, his words were carefully chosen and his ethics were impeccable - although he seldom spoke of them. He was not a Quaker -probably an agnostic - my mother remembers him saying to her as a young child "If you wish to attend church you may and if you don't want to, that is also fine" . He was a working class man and largely self educated. G.B. Shaw was a favorite and perhaps that was an influence on his unwillingness to fight. He was a strong advocate of working men's right - he was an involved union man at the print shop (Waterlows) and a firm believer in equalizing education for all. He was a private man but had a Victorian man's power in the family - although never violent or loud his word - often unspoken - was law, until his adult children started pushing back! I think his strong ethical sense and moral high tone was probably off-putting and intimidating for people - I'm sure he was regarded as humorless by some but like all people he was paradoxical. When my very loud, funny, charismatic piano playing father came on the scene roaring at him to get out of his chair and go down to the pub for a pint - my grandfather would smile and go leaving slack jawed relatives behind him. When I visited him in the 1970's, after my Nana had died, he told me that if he had to do it again he would have been vegetarian and I think that even then,in his late eighties, he was thinking through the ethics of his life. As for me, I'm a vegetarian since my twenties, attended Quaker Meeting for several years and take part in a weekly peace vigil so looks like the genes are living on! (But I do spend a lot more time laughing.)