Gregory Wale was a Cambridgeshire

Cambridgeshire

Cambridgeshire is a county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west...

 gentleman

Gentleman

The term gentleman , in its original and strict signification, denoted a well-educated man of good family and distinction, analogous to the Latin generosus...

, a Justice of the Peace

Justice of the Peace

A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...

 for Cambridgeshire and Conservator

Conservators of the River Cam

The Conservators of the River Cam are the navigation authority for the River Cam in Cambridgeshire and were founded in 1702.-History:Cambridge had been a major inland port as a result of its position on the navigable River Cam for centuries, but this position changed with the draining of the Fens...

 of the River Cam

River Cam

The River Cam is a tributary of the River Great Ouse in the east of England. The two rivers join to the south of Ely at Pope's Corner. The Great Ouse connects the Cam to England's canal system and to the North Sea at King's Lynn...

.

Parents

Gregory Wale was the son of Thomas Wale of Lackfort (born 8 January 1642) and Penelope Wood. He was one of four sons and two daughters.

Thomas Wale of Lackfort was the son of Robert Wale of Bardfield Hall who in 1653 established the Wale family merchant business in Riga

Riga

Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...

. Robert Wale was the grandson of Thomas Wale who purchased in 1613 Harston Hall, which may be considered the Wale ancestral home.

The obelisk

He is notable for a large obelisk

Obelisk

An obelisk is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape at the top, and is said to resemble a petrified ray of the sun-disk. A pair of obelisks usually stood in front of a pylon...

 in his memory on Magots Mount (52.1362°N 0.1056°E) near Little Shelford

Little Shelford

Little Shelford is a village located to the south of Cambridge, in the county of Cambridgeshire, in eastern England. The River Granta lies between it and the larger village of Great Shelford, and both are served by Shelford railway station, which is on the line from Cambridge to London Liverpool...

, Cambridgeshire. This small hill is also known as Rowley's Hill

Rowley's Hill

Rowley's Hill is a hill in Cambridgeshire, near the villages of Harston and Newton. Although of only moderate height , it has a relatively large prominence due to it being surrounded on all sides by a 'moat' of much lower land...

 and on some maps as St. Margaret's Mount. The obelisk was erected in 1739.

The monument is inscribed as follows:

To the Memory of
Gregory Wale Esq,
Justice of the Peace for this
County. Deputy Lieutenant. County
Treasurer. Conservator of the River Cam.
He lived an advocate for liberty.
A good subject.
An agreeable companion,
a faithful friend,
an hospitable neighbour,
and in all parts of life
a useful member of society.
He died June 5th 1739 in the 71st year
of his age: universally lamented,
and was buried in the parish church of Little Shelford.
This obelisk was erected by his
surviving friend James Church Esq
as a public testimony of his regard
to the memory of so worthy a gentleman.

Gregory Wale and James Church used to meet regularly at this place, and they agreed that when one of them died, the survivor should put up a monument to his friend's memory on the very spot where they so often met.

After the death of Gregory Wale, his granddaughter Margot Wale often used to walk up the mount and was very fond of it. At the latter end of her life she would lie at her window and watch her little hill and her friends and the country people got into the habit of calling it "Margot's Mount" and in later years this was corrupted to "Maggot's Mount".

Gregory Wale was Lord of the Manor of Tiptofts in Harston

Harston

Harston is a village to the south of Cambridge, England.-Harston House:Harston House is a historic private house in Harston. It was formerly known as Harston Hall....

, Cambridgeshire from 1731–1735 His son and grandson were subsequently Lord of the Manor.

Family life

He married Margaret Sparke in about 1700. Margaret Sparke came from Risby and was the daughter of Ezekiel Sparke. The children of Gregory Wale and Margaret Sparke were Margaret Wale (born 24 February 1699) of Harston

Harston

Harston is a village to the south of Cambridge, England.-Harston House:Harston House is a historic private house in Harston. It was formerly known as Harston Hall....

 and Thomas Wale

Thomas Wale

Thomas Wale was a Cambridgeshire gentleman born at Risby, Suffolk on the 7 September 1701 and died in 1796. He is notable for having left a significant quantity of documents collated throughout his life which constituted the book My Grandfather's Pocket Book. His documents provide a unique insight...

 of Little Shelford.

Margaret Wale (born 24 February 1699) lived at Harston

Harston

Harston is a village to the south of Cambridge, England.-Harston House:Harston House is a historic private house in Harston. It was formerly known as Harston Hall....

, probably in Harston Hall. She married Allen Hurrell (senior, died 1740) at Little Shelford

Little Shelford

Little Shelford is a village located to the south of Cambridge, in the county of Cambridgeshire, in eastern England. The River Granta lies between it and the larger village of Great Shelford, and both are served by Shelford railway station, which is on the line from Cambridge to London Liverpool...

 on the 12 January 1719 and their daughter Margaret Hurrell (junior) married John (Littel) Bridge (died 1776, buried at Harston) an "eminent counsellor at law" at Lackford

Lackford

Lackford is a village and civil parish in the St Edmundsbury district of Suffolk in eastern England. Located around four miles north-west of Bury St Edmunds on the A1101, in 2005 it had a population of 270....

 near Risby, Bury St Edmunds in 1752 John Littel Bridge's brother Thomas was also in business in Riga, associated with Thomas Wale. Margaret Bridge's son was Thomas Bridge (Little) of Shudy Camps

Shudy Camps

Shudy Camps is a village in Cambridgeshire, England. As of the 2001 census the population is 310. The area of the village is .-External links:*...

 (died c1830). Thomas Bridge's daughter Henrietta Bridge married William Long and their daughter was Henrietta Langhorne

John Langhorne (King's School Rochester)

.Reverend John Langhorne was headmaster of The King's School, Rochester and an educational innovator there...

. All of the above were notable landowners in Harston John Littel Bridge was the son of
Robert Bridge of Shudy Camps and Sarah (or Susanna) daughter of Thomas (or John) Littel of Halstead Co, Essex

Gregory Wale married his second wife Elizabeth Hitch and they had a son called Hitch Wale (born 1711). Elizabeth was the daughter of Captain Thomas Hitch.

Other Aspects of his life

Some of his personal papers form part of those which his great grandson used to write "My Grandfather's Pocket Book". This book (page 63) gives an interesting anecdote concerning the birth of his son Thomas Wale: "7ber 15th 1701 - Wagered with Von Poodall a bottle of wine yt [that] my next child will be a boy". The author then notes "And he won it also".

Gregory Wale is buried in the parish church of Little Shelford.

See also

"Harston - History and Local Records of a Cambridgeshire Village" compiled by Helen C. Greene 1937

"In Memory of the Sounds of Shelford Parva in Cambridge" by Fanny Lucretia Wale. Cambridgeshire County Council Archives