Chapter 2 Becoming a geologist; burning the candle at both ends

Abstract

What follows is again extracted from Nicholson (1932), unless otherwise referenced. The death of John James in 1876 left his family in severe grief. Jane Gregory was left with only a small annuity which she managed amazingly well. It was around this time that Ann Russell's services had to be dispensed with and she left to become a lady's maid, being helped by the small amount of French that the children had taught her. Throughout his life Gregory, who was 12½ when his father died, quoted his father and regretted his early loss. A favourite saying of both was ‘Better to wear out than rust out’ (Gregory 1977). In 1878, when the time came for Gregory, aged 14, to leave Stepney Grammar School, the headmaster felt certain he would receive a scholarship to Kings College, Wimbledon, (with which Stepney Grammar School was associated), followed by one from there to Cambridge, where John James had hoped that his son might study. But the loss of his father had affected Gregory badly. He was small and thin and coughed badly and the fear of the insidious disease that had prematurely killed his father and grandfather could not be ignored, so the family doctor, who was both respected and familiar with the family's position, was consulted. Although this was before the days of commonly prescribed open-air treatment for TB, the doctor insisted that the best chance for him was ‘to run wild on a farm for a year’. The headmaster was disappointed, but Jane Gregory knew that Jack was inclined to study too hard and was concerned for him, and no doubt also aware of the slender available resources to supplement any scholarships. She was perhaps also concerned about him being exposed to the profligate activities of the Cambridge students, many of …