Francis Gregory (second ¼ 1904 – death unknown), also known as "Francis St. Clair Gregory", was a Cornish wrestler of the 1920s and 1930s, Cornish wrestling

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other titl ...

(stickler) of the 1960s,

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

of the 1920s,

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

footballer who played in the 1920s and 1930s,

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

of the 1930s through to 1963, and professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who played in the 1930s and 1940s. He played club level rugby union (RU) for

Redruth R.F.C. Redruth RFC (established 1875) is a rugby union club from the town of Redruth, Cornwall, currently playing in the fourth tier of the English league system, National League 2 West. The club runs a number of men's teams including 1st XV (Nation ...

, and representative level rugby league (RL) for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, and at club level for

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

and

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

, as , or , i.e. number 8 or 10, or, 11 or 12, during the era of contested

scrum Scrum may refer to: Sport * Scrum (rugby), a method of restarting play in rugby union and rugby league ** Scrum (rugby union), scrum in rugby union * Scrum, an offensive melee formation in Japanese game Bo-taoshi Media and popular culture * M ...

s. Francis Gregory wrestled professionally under the name Francis St. Clair Gregory, his

sobriquet A sobriquet ( ), or soubriquet, is a nickname, sometimes assumed, but often given by another, that is descriptive. A sobriquet is distinct from a pseudonym, as it is typically a familiar name used in place of a real name, without the need of expla ...

of 'St. Clair' is purportedly the name of town in Brittany visited by Cornish wrestlers for wrestling tournaments.

Background

Francis Gregory was born in

St Wenn St Wenn ( kw, Sen Gwenna) is a civil parish and village in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village is situated six miles (10 km) west of Bodmin and nine miles (14.5 km) east of Newquay. The parish population at the 2011 census w ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, and his birth was registered in

Bodmin Bodmin () is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated south-west of Bodmin Moor. The extent of the civil parish corresponds fairly closely to that of the town so is mostly urban in character. It is bordere ...

Cornish wrestling career

Francis Gregory is considered the most notable Cornish Wrestler since the foundation of th
Cornish Wrestling Association
in 1923, and the last of the "Great" Cornish wrestlers, he was the youngest member of the squad that took part in a two-week-long exhibition to promote

Cornish wrestling Cornish wrestling ( kw, Omdowl Kernewek) is a form of wrestling that has been established in Cornwall for many centuries and possibly longer. It is similar to the Breton Gouren wrestling style. It is colloquially known as "wrasslin’"Phillipps, ...

at the

London Palladium The London Palladium () is a Grade II* West End theatre located on Argyll Street, London, in the famous area of Soho. The theatre holds 2,286 seats. Of the roster of stars who have played there, many have televised performances. Between 1955 an ...

in the 1920s, he represented

as heavyweight champion against

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

at the first seven Cornu-

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally ** Breton people ** Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Ga ...

tournaments, winning on every occasion, including victories over the famous Breton champions;

René Scordia René (''Born again (Christianity), born again'' or ''reborn'' in French language, French) is a common given name, first name in French-speaking, Spanish-speaking, and German-speaking countries. It derives from the Latin name Renatus. René is th ...

and

Robert Cadic The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory ...

, he was known as "The Champion Who Never Smiled". He won the Cornish Wrestling Heavyweight Belt every year from 1928 to 1936.Tripp, Michael: ''PERSISTENCE OF DIFFERENCE: A HISTORY OF CORNISH WRESTLING'', University of Exeter as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2009, p127-175.

Professional wrestling career

Francis Gregory appeared on the first televised wrestling match in the United Kingdom, a bout against

Mike Marino Mike Marino (born 8 October 1921 as Michael Harrison – died 24 August 1981) was an England, English Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and a leading name during the ''World of Sport (UK TV series), World of Sport'' era in British wr ...

West Ham West Ham is an area in East London, located east of Charing Cross in the west of the modern London Borough of Newham. The area, which lies immediately to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea, was originally an ancien ...

Municipal Baths (now Atherton Leisure Centre) on Wednesday 9 November 1955.

Boxing career

Francis Gregory had four professional boxing contests in 1929.

Rugby playing career

International honours

Rugby league

Francis Gregory won a

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

for

(RL) while at Warrington in 1939 against Wales.

Club career

Rugby union

Francis Gregory played rugby union for

Rugby league

Francis Gregory made his début for

in the 17–11 victory over

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

on Saturday 29 August 1936, scored his first

try Try or TRY may refer to: Music Albums * ''Try!'', an album by the John Mayer Trio * ''Try'' (Bebo Norman album) (2014) Songs * "Try" (Blue Rodeo song) (1987) * "Try" (Colbie Caillat song) (2014) * "Try" (Nelly Furtado song) (2004) * " Try (Ju ...

for Wigan in the 11–9 victory over

Broughton Rangers Broughton Rangers were one of the twenty-one rugby clubs which met at the George Hotel, Huddersfield, in 1895 to form the Northern Rugby Football Union. They were originally based in Broughton, Salford, but in 1933 moved to Gorton, Manchester t ...

on Saturday 14 November 1936, scored his last try for Wigan in the 37–17 victory over Halifax at

on Wednesday 17 February 1937, and he played his last match for Wigan in the 10–2 victory over

Hull F.C. Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in West Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition and were ...

on Saturday 30 October 1937. Francis Gregory played left-, i.e. number 11, in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

15–10 victory over Halifax in the 1941–42

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...

Final at Odsal Stadium, Bradford, on Saturday 6 June 1942.

Genealogical information

Francis Gregory was the father of the professional wrestlers,

Roy St. Clair Roy is a masculine given name and a family surname with varied origin. In Anglo-Norman language, Anglo-Norman England, the name derived from the Norman language, Norman ''roy'', meaning "king", while its Old French cognate, ''rey'' or ''roy'' ...

br>
and

Tony St. Clair Tony St. Clair (born 28 March 1948) is an English retired professional wrestler. He is well known for his stints in Joint Promotions and All Star Wrestling in the United Kingdom, Catch Wrestling Association in Austria and Germany, and New Japan ...

Outside of sport

Francis Gregory was the

landlord A landlord is the owner of a house, apartment, condominium, land, or real estate which is rented or leased to an individual or business, who is called a tenant (also a ''lessee'' or ''renter''). When a juristic person is in this position, the ...

of a

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

in Manchester .

References

External links

Profile at wrestlingheritage.co.ukStatistics at wigan.rlfans.comStatistics at wrestlingdata.comThe Rise And Fall Of The Tin Mining Industry In CornwallHall of Fame – The Heyday of Redruth Rugby ClubRobert Caric, Un Grand Champion De Lutte BretonneCornish wrestling – the last round?Wrestling by Michael TresillianStatistics at wolvesplayers.thisiswarrington.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gregory, Francis 1904 births Cornish wrestling champions England national rugby league team players English male boxers English male professional wrestlers English rugby league players English rugby union players People from Bodmin Place of death missing Rugby league players from Cornwall Rugby league props Rugby league second-rows Rugby union players from Cornwall Warrington Wolves players Wigan Warriors players Year of death missing