A Deed of Covenant lays out the deeds or promises to be kept by the person who is renting the properties listed.

Assignment of interests means that another stated person can benefit from monies generated form the properties listed in the deed of covenant.

This document  provided information about the following people:

William Gregory, John Gregory, Elizabeth Lupton nee Gregory, Robert Gregory and Mary Ann Whiteley formally Taylor nee Gregory.

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William Gregory (1772-1845)

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William was baptised on the 14 May 1772 at Square Chapel.

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William married an Elizabeth. It has proved difficult to find a marriage record which is definitely them. The most likely marriage is in June 1779 at Halifax Parish Church. The marriage entry is for William Gregory and Betty Tillotson. Betty is a derivative of Elizabeth, but she seems to use Elizabeth in every other instance. William’s occupation is listed as grocer, which fits with his occupation on some of their children’s baptism records. Their ages at marriage are both listed as 21 which doesn’t quite fit with confirmed date of death, however, it could just be that they were over 21 which was the legal marriageable age at this time.

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William and Elizabeth gave birth to six children, two of whom died in early childhood noted on the grave marker, leaving four who survived to adulthood and are mentioned on the Deed of Covenants document. On two of the children’s baptisms (Robert and Mary Ann’s) William is described as a grocer, but on later documents he is a clothes broker and stay maker.

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He appears on the 1841 census as living in Northgate, Halifax with the occupation of clothes broker. He is sharing the house with 11 year old Elizabeth Lupton, his granddaughter and 55 year old Sally Townsend, who is a female servant.

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The Lupton Family are also living next door on Northgate (for more information about this family see the link below).

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Mrs Lupton (his daughter, Elizabeth Gregory) was called upon give evidence about a loan in the court case of 1843.

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His son Robert’s Veterinary Practice was also in Northgate. In fact in 1837 in White’s directory the following are all listed as resident at Number 9 Northgate Halifax:

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William Gregory – Stay Maker

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Robert Gregory – Vet

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Thomas Lupton – Clothes Broker

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A bit more evidence that a William Gregory was the stay maker on Northgate appears in an advert for of all things  - Lambs Vegetable Compound.

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In the document and advert that appears in the newspaper between February 1835 and May 1836, there is reference to a person who worked for ‘William Gregory Stay Maker’. On the 13th April 1834, a Sarah Townsend swallowed Lambs Vegetable Compound and consequently passed a tape worm 10 yards long! Also interesting, is that a Sally Townsend was living in the same house as William in 1841 - she was a servant. The names Sally and Sarah can sometimes be used interchangeably or it could be an error in the newspaper.

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There are still questions over whether or not William Gregory was a stay maker following in his father’s footsteps. William and Elizabeth gave birth to six children, all baptised, the first four records do not give an occupation for William but the last two do.

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For both Robert and Mary Ann, his occupation is stated as Grocer. Much of the information in the MAC/42/31/1- 3 talks about a Mr. Blackburn, the ‘aforesaid Grocer’. It is probable that William worked with or for him, inherited the other half of the premises in Northgate from his sister and then became a stay maker. There is certainly more evidence that he, along with his daughter, were involved with the clothing business, later in life.

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The Archives (MAC42/31/1-3), confirms the existence of four children, ‘of age’, belonging to William Gregory, Stay Maker, who is mentioned directly with his profession on one of the pages. The document talks about:

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1 Elizabeth Ann who at the time of writing was Elizabeth Ann Whiteley, formerly Taylor nee Gregory

2 John Gregory

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3 Elizabeth Lupton nee Gregory

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4 Robert Gregory ‘ departed this life in the life time of his father’

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The documents go on to describe residences, rentals and mortgages all relating to Northgate, Halifax and the family. There is also a mention of the paternal aunt in Elizabeth Jagger/Haigh, in relation to Mary Ann and Elizabeth.

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So did William follow in his father’s footsteps? Was James Gregory (1731-1799) the Stay Maker of Halifax?

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Yes, we believe he was.

Although we have been unable to establish an exact marriage partner or dates for both James and his son William we believe that James Gregory (1731-1799) was the stay maker of Halifax and that his son William probably oversaw the business after his death whilst working with/as a grocer; and that William’s daughter Elizabeth Lupton, continued to buy and sell stays and corsets through her drapery business on Northgate, Halifax.

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William died on 18th September 1845 and was buried at Square Chapel.

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Children of William and Elizabeth

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Richard and William Gregory both died in infancy and are interred in this grave.

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Richard – born 3rd Feb, baptised 22nd March 1802 at Square Chapel, died 6th  March 1803 aged 1yr. 10 days.

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William born 27th Oct 1803, baptised 21st Nov 1803 and died 30 Nov 1807 aged 4.

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Robert Gregory (1807-1839)

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Robert Gregory survived early childhood but he died before both of his parents. Not to be confused with Robert Gregory (1795) the brother of Elizabeth Gregory who is buried in Grave number 235 of Square Chapel, or the Robert Gregory of Hipperholme, who was known to Anne Lister.

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Robert is listed as a Vet with offices/surgery in Northgate, Halifax - number 10 in 1834 and number 9 in 1837. These numbers were at the beginning of Northgate at the Wool shops/Old Market end of town.

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The only remaining original buildings is a small row of Northgate to North Bridge in which you can clearly see the property is over three floors; shop front, living quarters upstairs, central staircase and large stable type gates leading to a yard behind the building; most likely the type of accommodation that 9 and 10 Northgate were.

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Where Robert trained may have been in London Veterinary College, founded in 1791, it became the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) in 1796. Alternatively many early Vets trained alongside an established vet, not necessarily trained, and often the local farrier. It was not until, firstly in 1881 and then in 1948, that it became for necessity for vets to be registered and hold a qualification in order to practice, long after Robert’s death.

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In Robert’s career the emphasis was on working animals not household pets. Those animals that earned their keep e.g. horses, farm animals and other livestock. Although it is worth a note that the RCVS was formed in part to treat race horses, the profession of vet was to treat those animals that were an economic necessity of life and many of them were housed in the towns as well as in the countryside.

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Many farmers treated their livestock with what would be termed tinctures and potions with good and bad results. ‘Old Wives Tales’ and countryside law also played a part in treating livestock. To summon a vet would have needed the farmer or worker to travel to the nearest town to ‘fetch them’; there were no telephones in Britain until 1877. This made it doubly expensive in time and money and was an expense that could not be afforded; if necessary the Barter System or an exchange would apply - farm produce for treatments instead of money.

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As human medicine developed so did that for animal treatment. In 1700 - 1800 treatments were discovered for cholera, typhoid fever and tuberculosis and these treatments could easily be applied to animals to protect them as well.

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It was not until Queen Victoria came to the throne in 1837 that the move towards household pets became popular; prior to this neither dogs or cats lived inside the home. Changes in Public Hygiene Laws also began to move working animals out of the town and changes in Animal Welfare Laws began to allow farmers to administer some medicines, thus not requiring the constant attention of the vet. Antibiotics within agriculture did not come into use until the 1930s.

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A newspaper report of a Case in the Sherrif’s Court in August 1836 mentions Robert ‘pronouncing a horse as unsound to do the work for which it had been purchased’ that he had not received payment for.