Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 23.djvu/95

 a spiritualist, in his later years a champion of feudalism and absolutism, and in particular an embittered adversary of the American Union. The violence of his political sympathies has entirely spoiled his attempted 'History of the United States to the Reconstruction of the Union,' 1887, which can only be regarded as a gigantic party pamphlet. His ultimate convictions, political and religious, found expression in two volumes of essays, 'The Devil's Advocate,' 1878, and 'Without God; Negative Science and Natural Ethics,' 1883; and in a series of novels displaying considerable imagination and invention: 'Across the Zodiac,' 1880; 'Errant,' 1880; 'Ivy cousin and bride,' 1881; 'Sanguelac,' 1883; and 'The Verge of Night,' 1885. Of his sincerity there could be no question, and his polemical virulence did not exclude a tender vein of lyrical poetry, pleasingly manifested in his early poems, published under the pseudonym of Lionel H. Holdreth, and in his 'Interleaves' (1875).



GREG, ROBERT HYDE (1795–1875), economist and antiquary, born in King Street, Manchester, on 24 Sept. 1795, was son of Samuel Greg, a millowner near Wilmslow, Cheshire, and brother of [q. v.] and [q. v.] His mother was Hannah, daughter and coheiress of Adam Lightbody of Liverpool, and a descendant of, the nonconformist [q. v.] He was educated at Edinburgh University, and before joining his father in business as a cotton manufacturer, travelled in Spain, Italy, and the East. In 1817 he entered the Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester, and afterwards contributed to its 'Memoirs' some interesting papers on topics chiefly suggested by his observations abroad. Their titles are:
 * 1) 'Remarks on the Site of Troy, and on the Trojan Plain,' 1823.
 * 2) 'Observations on the Round Towers of Ireland,' 1823.
 * 3) 'On the Sepulchral Monuments of Sardis and Mycenæ,' 1833.
 * 4) 'Cyclopean, elasgic, and Etruscan Remains; or Remarks on the Mural Architecture of Remote Ages,' 1838.

He took a leading part in public work in Manchester, aiding in the foundation of the Royal Institution, the Mechanics' Institution, and in the affairs of the Chamber of Commerce, of which for a time he was president. He was an ardent liberal politician, and rendered valuable assistance in money and advocacy in the agitations for parliamentary reform and the repeal of the corn laws. In 1837 he wrote a pamphlet on the 'Factory Question and the Ten Hours Bill.' He was elected M.P. for Manchester in September 1839, during his absence from England. He took the seat against his will and he retired in July 1841. In the meantime he published a speech on the corn laws, which he had delivered in the House of Commons in April 1840, and a letter to Henry Labouchere, afterwards Lord Taunton, 'On the Pressure of the Corn Laws and Sliding Scale, more especially upon the Manufacturing Interests and Productive Classes,' 1841, 2nd ed. 1842.

He was much interested in horticulture, and in practical and experimental farming, which he carried on at his estates at Norcliffe, Cheshire, and Coles Park, Hertfordshire. In this connection he wrote three pamphlets: 'Scottish Farming in the Lothians,' 1842; 'Scottish Farming in England,' 1842; and 'Improvements in Agriculture,' 1844.

He married, 14 June 1824, Mary, eldest daughter of Robert Philips of the Park, Manchester; by her he had four sons and two daughters. Greg died at Norcliffe Hall on 21 Feb. 1875, and was buried at the Unitarian chapel, Dean Row, Wilmslow, Cheshire, being followed to the grave by nearly five hundred of his tenants and employés, and by many others.



GREG, SAMUEL (1804–1876), philanthropist, was fourth son of Samuel Greg, a mill-owner at Quarry Bank, near Wilmslow, Cheshire, by his wife Hannah, and therefore a brother of [q. v.] and [q. v.] He was born in King Street, Manchester, 6 Sept. 1804, and educated at Unitarian schools at Nottingham and Bristol. After leaving Bristol he spent two years at home learning mill-work, and in the autumn of 1823 went to Edinburgh for a winter course of university lectures. In 1831, with his youngest brother, William Rathbone Greg, he studied and practised mesmerism with great enthusiasm, and to such practice he attributed his subsequent ill-health. He took the Lower House Mill, near the village of Bollington, in 1832, and having fitted it up with the requisite machinery, commenced working with hands imported from the neighbouring districts of Wilmslow, Styall, and other places. For about fifteen years the mill and the workpeople were his all-absorbing objects of consideration and pursuit. Some account of his proceedings is found in two letters which in 1835 he addressed to Leonard Horner, 