Wilf Gregg, 1931-2008

A London man renowned for his esoteric collection of true crime literature passed away last week, naturally, we are assured, leaving 7,000 volumes, including some of the most prized titles in our favorite genre.

Wilf Gregg was 76. His massive library was housed in his suburban bungalow, said to groan under the weight of so many books. He was widowed and had no children, reports the Telegraph. He was noted for his generosity, sharing his books with many other authors.

The Telegraph obituary writer had a peek at his shelves and reveals:

His collection included dozens of rare items, including a copy of The Terrific Register (1825), a Victorian edition of The Newgate Calendar and a reprint of The Bloody Register.

But Gregg reckoned that his best find (bought for $100 on the internet) was not a published work at all but a private scrapbook called Murder Most Foul, compiled in 1921 by a criminologist fascinated by the Eliza Manning cause célèbre of 1849, in which a couple murdered a man and buried him under the scullery floorboards; Mrs Manning went to the scaffold wearing black satin, a material that fell from fashion as a result.

Gregg owned one of the few complete sets of Notable British Trials in private hands, in all 83 volumes which he used to pick up for a pound or two a time during the 1960s. He needed just eight more to complete the set when he visited a bookshop in Flask Walk, Hampstead. The owner told him that a whole set had just come in, so Gregg bought the eight he needed – for £3 each – and left the rest.

Wilfred Gregg was born on August 7 1931 in Sunderland, where his father ran a successful stationery business. Wilf was an only child, and his interest in crime was kindled by "my strange old grandmother", who was in the habit of reading out crime reports from The News of the World.

When he was 16, Wilf chanced on The Trial of John Watson Laurie (in the Notable British Trials series) in a bookshop at Ludgate Circus. This concerned a case in 1889 when an English holidaymaker was murdered on the Isle of Arran. Gregg started reading the introduction, became hooked, and realised that there were many more to collect.

For more: Visit the Ripperology site for a thread on Mr. Gregg

If you hear anything on what's to come of his collection, kindly drop me a note.

Comments

[carole gill]

Thanks for that, Laura.
So interesting.
Yes, the Manning case is fascinating.
I have two books of the (British)Notable Trial Series. One is about Dr. Buck Ruxton hugely popular case over in the U.K.
Dr. Ruxton murdered his wife and housemaid in 1935.
It was ground breaking for forensics.
As a matter of fact, I think it was the first time a skull was used with a photograph superimposed over it. Quite something in its day!
and the other is from the Burke and Hare Trial.
What I would give to look at some of Mr. Gregg's books!Goodness!

[A Voice of Sanity]

There is an interesting discussion of the trial of John Watson Laurie on:

http://www.psychology.stir.ac.uk/staff/rcampbell/ArranMurder_002.html

Notably he was sentenced to death by an 8 to 7 vote from a jury of fifteen!

[Fiz]

I wouldn't mind betting Marie Elmer and Loretta Lay try to get them, Laura! I have about a dozen of these titles, but I prefer the earlier ones, Madeleine Smith, The Seddons, in between those years, 1857-1911, when the gaslight is low and suspicions swirls around the the houses! I'd like to see them too, Carole!

[Foose]

Oh my God, my soulmate is dead.

[homeless god]

great! thanks very much for sharing!