My Odd Name

Several of you have asked me to explain my pen-name, ‘Gregge’. 

My great grandfather was born Thomas Gregge. He was a ne-er do well, although his distant ancestors were a well off family. 

So I come from a long line of Gregge’s. If you go to the graveyard at Pavenham, near Bedford, you’ll find some tombs of the rich ones. (The money went down another line – doesn’t it always?) 

Unfortunately, by the time it got to Thomas, he couldn’t care less, or maybe he didn’t know, how other people spelt his name. So he was born a Gregge, but died a Gregg. That’s where I come in.

Another thing. All my life I’ve had to spell my name, as people have tried their best to get it wrong. Clegg, Grieg, Greig, Griggs, you name it, I’ve had it. I’ve always had to shout ‘G – R – E – G – G’ just like my parents had to.

And then, out of the blue, along comes a big chain of bakery shops. I’ve got nothing against Greggs the Bakers, I buy stuff there, but they are using my name! (If you’re not in the UK, this is a a relatively new British chain.) And suddenly everybody knows how to spell it! If you search the internet for Gregg, you’ll get a gazillion hits.

So a little devious thought formed in my mind. Why not adopt a pen-name? Other authors do! And what better name? It’s only one letter different from mine, and it was my family name only three generations back, so I can lay a legitimate claim to it.