John Walter Gregory

John Walter Gregory, FRS
Born	27 January 1864 Bow, London
Died	2 June 1932 (aged 68) Megantoni Rapids, Urubamba River, Peru
Occupation	Geologist and explorer
Awards	Bigsby Medal (1905)

Prof John Walter Gregory, FRS,FRSE FGS LLD (27 January 1864 – 2 June 1932) was a British geologist and explorer, known principally for his work on glacial geology and on the geography and geology of Australia and East Africa.

The Gregory Rift in the Great Rift Valley is named in his honour.

Gregory was born in Bow, London, the only son of a John James Gregory, a wool merchant, and his wife Jane, née Lewis. Gregory was educated at Stepney Grammar School and at 15 became a clerk at wool sales in London. He later took evening classes at the Birkbeck Literary and Scientific Institution (now Birkbeck, University of London). He matriculated in 1886, graduated BSc with first-class honours in 1891 and D. Sc. (London) in 1893. In 1887 he was appointed an assistant in the geological department of the Natural History Museum, London.

Gregory remained at the museum until 1900 and was responsible for a Catalogue of the Fossil Bryozoa in three volumes (1896, 1899 and 1909), and a monograph on the Jurassic Corals of Cutch (1900). He obtained leave at various times to travel in Europe, the West Indies, North America, and East Africa. The Great Rift Valley (1896), is an interesting account of a journey to Mount Kenya and Lake Baringo made in 1892-3. Gregory was the first to mount a specifically scientific expedition to the mountain. He made some key observations about the geology which still stand. In 1896 he did excellent work as naturalist to Sir Marten Conway's expedition across Spitsbergen. His well-known memoir on glacial geology written in collaboration with Edmund J. Garwood belongs to this period.

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