{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} 225px|frameless|right '''Bob Gregson''' (21 July 1778–November 1824) billed as "The Lancashire Giant" was a bare-knuckle fighter of the early 19th century. He was a ferry captain and the owner of a chophouse in Holborn in London. A bust of Gregson is located in the Royal Academy.<ref name=Google>[https://books.google.com/books?id=WjwPAwAAQBAJ&dq=robert+gregson+liverpool+1824&pg=PA241-IA2 Henry Downes Miles, ''Pugilistica; The History of British Boxing'', John Grant, Edinburgh (1906)] - Google Books pgs 237-241</ref>
Born as Robert Gregson in Heskin in Lancashire in 1778<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=bBxdAAAAcAAJ&dq=bob+gregson+1824+liverpool&pg=PA39 ''Fistiana; or, the Oracle of the Ring: Results of Prize Battles from 1700 to 1846, Inclusive'', William Clement, Junior (1846) Sixth edition] - Google Books pg 39</ref> he was a relatively well-educated and cultured man who dressed well and wrote poetry, earning himself the sobriquet "The Poet of the Prize Ring".<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=sc0nDwAAQBAJ&dq=bob+gregson+1824+liverpool&pg=PT32 Keith Baker, ''The Stakes were High: The Extraordinary Life of John Gully, From Bruiser and Bookie to Fine Old English Gentleman'', Pitch Publishing (2017)] - Google Books</ref> Gregson became known as "The Lancashire Giant" on account of being 15 stones in weight and standing at six feet two inches tall. Sir Thomas Lawrence, principal painter to George IV selected him as the subject for a life-study; and he was chosen by the professor of anatomy at the Royal Academy to illustrate the beauties of anatomical proportion.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=-_QIAAAAQAAJ&dq=portraits%2C+Bob+Gregson%2C+Royal+Academy&pg=PA66 ''Pierce Egan's Book of Sports, and Mirror of Life''], Pierce Egan, T. T. and J. Tegg, London (1832) - Google Books</ref> He was an acquaintance of Lord Byron who helped to raise the funds to get Gregson released from debtors' prison in 1808.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=fCYKSBx2Mm8C&dq=bob+gregson+1824&pg=PA182 Leslie A. Marchand (ed), ''In My Hot Youth:Byron's Letters and Journals: The Complete and Unexpurgated Text'' Vol. 1 1798-1810], Harvard University Press (1974) - Google Books pg 182</ref> [[File:John Gully vs Bob Gregson.jpg|thumb|left|John Gully (centre right) defeats Gregson in their second contest near Woburn in 1808]] On 12 July 1807 Gregson was presented for the first time in an exhibition bout against Isaac Bitton at the Fives Court, St Martin's Street in which Gregson gave a good account of himself. On 14 October 1807 Gregson was defeated by John Gully in a fight at Six Mile Bottom near Cambridge in 36 rounds when Gully was declared the winner after a fight in which both pugilists were badly beaten and which left many onlookers uncertain as to who had really won.<ref>{{cite DNB|wstitle= Gully, John |volume= 23 |last= Boase |first= George Clement |author-link= George Clement Boase |page= 336-337 |year= |short=1}}</ref> The two clashed again on 10 May 1808 when Gully once more successfully defended his English title by defeating Gregson in 24 rounds near Woburn in a contest which lasted for an hour and a quarter.<ref>Henry Downes Miles, 1906, Pugilistica volume 1, pp185-189</ref> Gully announced his retirement later that year. Gregson and Tom Cribb then fought on 8 October 1808 for the championship and 1,000 guineas in a 30 foot ring in 23 rounds at Moulsey Hurst. Cribb defeated Gregson.<ref>Henry Downes Miles, 1906, Pugilistica volume 1, pp250-251</ref>
From 1808 he owned a London pub The Castle in Holborn, otherwise known as "Bob's Chop-House" (also known as "Bob Gregson's Coffee House", the Castle Tavern, and the Napier) which became the unofficial headquarters of boxing ring patrons and pugilists alike,<ref name=Google/> but he was a bad businessman and was forced to give up the pub in 1814 after being convicted for debt evasion.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=k1U8BQAAQBAJ&dq=bob+gregson+debt+evasion&pg=PP59 Kasia Boddy, ''Boxing: A Cultural History'', Reaktion Books Ltd (2008)] - Google Books</ref> He set himself up as a bookmaker and fight promoter and became a poet penning among other works "British Lads and Black Millers". In 1816 he was the owner of the Punch House on Moor Street in Dublin in Ireland while in 1819 he received a benefit display in London before embarking on a sparring tour of Ireland along with Dan Donnelly and George Cooper.<ref name=Google/>
Gregson married Ester Owen (died 1806) and with her had three daughters: Mary Ann Gregson (1802-1848); Henrietta Gregson (1804-1882) and Ester Gregson (1806-1878) who became known as "Sister Scholastica" at Abbots Salford Convent and who purchased Stanbrook Abbey, where she was Abbess from 1846–62 and again 1868-72.
In later years Gregson was virtually penniless and lived out his last days in Liverpool where in July 1824 he was again imprisoned for debt.<ref>[https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/18034/page/941/data.pdf Petitions of Insolvent Debtors'] - ''The London Gazette'' pg 941</ref> He died in Liverpool in November 1824 aged 46<ref name=Google/> and was buried in St. Nicholas’ churchyard.
==References== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gregson, Bob}} Category:1778 births Category:1824 deaths Category:English male boxers Category:English bare-knuckle boxers Category:Sportspeople from Lancashire Category:People from the Borough of Chorley Category:Burials in Merseyside