The next time you are under the probe you will believe, without question, that dentists are capable of all kinds of evil. So this story here from the South Wales Echo in July 1886 will not surprise you at all.
A Dentist Horsewhipping His Wife
This is not the kind of headline you can ignore, is it? The story was revealed at Shrewsbury police court, where George William Gregory, surgeon dentist, who was carrying on an extensive business in the county, was charged with whipping and threatening his wife.
It appears that she opened the surgery door, for whatever reason, and Gregory ordered her out of the house. She did not leave quickly enough for his liking so he grabbed a dog whip and severely thrashed her with it, her back being covered with bruises.
His defence was based only upon the accusation that Mrs Gregory was intemperate, but this was denied. He was sentenced to two months’ imprisonment with hard labour, and he had to offer sureties to keep the peace for six months.
I suspect a number of you would like the opportunity for a spot of revenge on anyone who shoves the sort of sharp metal things inside your mouth that might make a thrashing sound almost preferable, though I cannot imagine that that Mrs Gregory would have agreed. Certainly Gregory appears to be a nasty piece of work. So I noted the story and moved on.
But then Gregory appeared in the papers again, two years later. His demeanour had not apparently improved. You might start to think that he had anger management issues.
In 1888 he appears in the Cardiff Times where he is treated to the headline A BRUTAL DENTIST PUNISHED. He certainly attracts unflattering headlines – and with good reason.
This time he was charged with ill-treating his nephew, William Fairweather, who was seventeen. Gregory thrashed the boy viciously on several occasions, the last time being a few days ago, when defendant belaboured him until he had twenty ugly wheals and braises about his body.
William was so frightened that he hid in the cellar until he was rescued just before midnight. Once again Gregory was sentenced to two months’ hard labour.
He does not appear to have possessed the most winning personality. He sounds like a terrible man to me and I put the story to one side once again, thankful at least that my own dentist is a proper gent. Then I discovered, by chance, that there was in fact a Welsh connection to the next story which emerged in the July 1897 and which the reason why you are reading about him now.
I found it in the South Wales Daily News and once again he shows himself to be a headline writer’s dream.
Libel by a Brecon Dentist. An Assistant Awarded Damages
The court case took place at Shropshire Assizes where Edwin Hubbard, a dentist’s assistant of Avenue Road, Brecon, claimed damages from Gregory, our notorious Shrewsbury bully and Hubbard’s employer, for libel.
He had worked for Gregory for six years, which means he had been employed since 1891, after those earlier court cases. In the previous September, whilst on holiday in the Isle of Wight, Hubbard received a letter from his employer, accusing him of acts of impropriety with Miss Gregory, a girl of fourteen and presumably his daughter. Hubbard sent an urgent telegram denying it, and returned immediately to Shrewsbury.
At home in Brecon he found that his wife had received a very similar letter, though this one contained the added frisson of a threat If I meet the scoundrel I shall put a bullet through him, or thrash him within an inch of his life. Gregory also accused Hubbard of dishonesty in not handing over money received on his behalf.
Miss Gregory was called to the witness box and gave evidence about the alleged improper conduct and her father gave evidence in support of the alleged embezzlement. The jury, though, was not impressed seemed to think that Gregory was involved in nothing but a desperate money-making scam. They returned a guilty verdict, awarding Hubbard £100 damages for libel.
It then became clear that Gregory had filed a petition for bankruptcy, which may go so way to explaining his actions. Life might have gone better for him, had he managed to stay out of newspaper headlines.
