Gregory, Barnard (1796-1852) | Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Barnard Gregory was born in 1796 to Clara Dimmock (1756/7-1840) and Horatio Gregory (1755/6-1815), a grocer, in Sutton Scotney, England. In 1821, Gregory co-founded the Brighton Gazette with Edward Hill Creasy.

Gregory later founded the periodical he would become more associated with, The Satirist, Or the Censor of the Times, in 1831. This popular newspaper published sensational stories about the London elite, making it and Gregory the subject of numerous libel suits. He also published The Penny Satirist, which concerned itself with the drama of lower profile citizens. J. Hain Friswell wrote in 1872: “[The] ‘Penny Satirist’ did for greengrocers and butchers what the… ‘Satirist’ performed for baronets and earls.” Ultimately, The Satirist was suppressed due to the Gregory’s negative social and legal attention, halting publication in 1849.

Gregory married his first wife, Margaret Black (1797-1832), in 1822. The couple shared two children. In 1844, Gregory married Margaret Le Bas (née Thompson; died 1847). Gregory died in St. John’s Wood, England in 1852, and is buried in Kensal Green Cemetery.

Boase, G. C., and H. C. G. Matthew. "Gregory, Barnard (bap. 1794, d. 1852), newspaper proprietor." In Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press, last modified May 14, 2026. https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/11455.

Friswell, J. Hain. A Man’s Thoughts. Sampson Low, Marston, Low, & Searle, 1872.

"Gregory, Barnard." In Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, vol. 23, edited by Leslie Stephen and Sidney Lee. Smith, Elder, & Co., 1890. https://hdl.handle.net/2027/hvd.hn6dz7.