Chap. 4.] LOCAL CELEBRITIES. 107 



position he has retained up to the present time. He is a leading 



landowner in the immediate district, and bears the reputation of being 



a good landlord. 



Mr. Smith married Miss Mary Eaby, daughter of the late Mr. J. 



Eaby, of LandskiU, a landed proprietor, and has six children livmg, 



viz., two daughters unmarried, and four sons. 



WiLLiiUi Smith. 

 Mr. Wm Smith, a partner in the firm of George Whittle & Co., is 



a son of Mr. John Smith, of MeUor. He came to Longridge in 1840, 



where he became connected with his uncle, the late Mr. George Whittle. 



He is an exceptionaUy good business man, energetic and clear-headed. 



He takes no part in public affairs, being fond of shooting and fishing. 



He married Miss Edleston, aad has two sons and a daughter. 



James Greqoey. 

 Another Longridge worthy was James Gregory, who for 25 years 

 taught the young and rising generation their reading, 'riting and 

 'rithmetic. Mi-. Gregory was born at Bolton, and after being two 

 years at Cheltenham CoUege, he had his first school at Whitby, where, 

 however, he did not stay long, coming to Longridge in 1857. He 

 worked hard at his congenial task, and soon acquired the reputation 

 he always retained of being a model schoolmaster. He was patient 

 and persevering, but maintained the strictest order and discipline by 

 kindness if possible, if not, otherwise. One well quahfied to pass an 

 opinion upon him, says: "Gregory was thoroughly imbued with the 

 scholastic spirit, which made him a splendid master, but left him, like 

 many of his class, pedagogic in everything else." "I have often, 

 continued my informant, " gone up to E. H. Lightfoot's for the after- 

 noon when Gregory was there. Soon we got on to pobtics, or some 

 social topics, and so maddened have I been by the ipse dixit style of 

 Gregory in arguing his point, that I have come away without staying 

 tea as intended." What Gregory did for Longridge it is hard to over- 

 estimate. You can teU his pupils at a glance, and we fear very much 

 that, since his death, the youth of Longridge have been sadly m want 

 of his discipUne and firmness. For several years I was a teacher 

 under Gregory at the Sunday School, and always admired the way in 



