Victoria Freemasons Who Died In The First World War
James Herrick McGregor was a member of Vancouver & Quadra Lodge No. 2 in Victoria. He was a partner in the surveying firm of Gore & McGregor.
The 1914 Victoria City Directory shows his residence as 1447 Newport Avenue in Oak Bay and his occupation as President of Gore & McGregor. His former home at 1447 Newport Avenue has been demolished and replaced with a new structure in 2021.
The same City Directory shows Gore & McGregor Ltd., Land Surveyors, Civil Engineers, Land Agents and Timber Cruisers, with offices at Chancery Lane, 1216 [now 1218] Langley Street in downtown Victoria.
He died on 24 April 1915, aged 46, of wounds received while serving as a Captain with the 16th Battalion, Canadian Infantry, near Ypres, Belgium.
Here are some reports of his death taken from various sources:
“Captain McGregor
Captain J. Herrick McGregor, of the 16th Battalion, who is reported wounded, has been associated with British Columbia, and with the city of Victoria during most of his life. He is the son of Dr. McGregor, former librarian of this city, and principal of the Montreal Norman School, and is himself a graduate of McGill University. Captain McGregor, who is 39 years of age [note: the Commonwealth War Graves Commission records show he was 46 when he died in April 1915], is well known as a surveyor and has been a member of the firm of Gore & McGregor for many years. He is possessed of considerable literary ability and has lately issued for private publication a small volume of verse called ‘Wisdom of Wallopi.” Captain McGregor joined the 50th highlanders past May [1914], and was paymaster of the regiment. He left Victoria on August 28 [1914] with the regiment for Valcartier, and was made paymaster of the 16th Battalion on formation of that unit.”
[Source: Daily Colonist, 27 April 1915, page 3]
Additional information on the Commonwealth War Graves website says he was “Son of the late James McGregor, L.L.D., of Cote des Neiges, Montreal; husband of E. Frances McGregor, Cadboro Bay, British Columbia, Canada.”
James Herrick McGregor has no known grave and is commemorated on panel 26 of the Menin Gate in Ypres, Belgium.
Here are links to more information on James Herrick McGregor:
- Commonwealth War Graves Commission
- Menin Gate, Ypres, Belgium
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