Vallance Richard Gregson was born to Thomas Gregson (then aged 28) and Margaret Gregson (then aged 30) in Bright Street, Bacup, Lancashire, on 12th December 1891, and was baptised at St Mary the Virgin, Blackburn, Lancashire, on 14th February 1892. At the time of his baptism his father was described as a 'Hawker’. By 1901 the family had moved to Clitheroe, Lancashire, where his father was working in a cotton factory. He was twice married, firstly in 1910 to Jennie Taylor, by whom he had the son Vallance Jean Gregson (1911–1992), a painter and commercial artist in his own right, and secondly, in 1922, in Haslingden, Lancashire, to Emily Ashworth (1887–1936), by whom he had two further sons, Richard (b.1922) and Norman (1935–2000).
According to the 1939 Register, Vallance Richard Gregson was living at 52, Booth Road, Bacup, and was employed as a 'Sheeting Weavers Cotton Operator’. Two sons, Vallance Jean and Richard, were working in a slipper works. Although at the end of his life his home address was 52, Booth Road, Stacksteads (as it was in 1939), he died at 20, Rosalynd Cottages, in Stacksteads, Bacup, Lancashire, on 14th July 1950. Following his death, the administrators of his will were his son Vallance Jean Gregson, and Kitty West, the wife of Frank West. His modest estate was valued at £278/10/8. As far as is known, Vallance Richard Gregson did not exhibit his work in national or leading local galleries.
From research by Kieran Owens and Grant Waters
Text source: Art Detective
