The son of a cheesemonger in the Bullstake Haymarket at Sheffield; was apprenticed to William Staniforth, sent, one of the first three Surgeons elected to the Sheffield General Infirmary when it was opened in 1797. Staniforth was not only a surgeon with a local reputation as an oculist, but he was the inventor of 'Staniforth's eye ointment', which was widely known. Samuel Gregory, probably at the suggestion of his master, went to London and studied at the Eye Hospital in Moorfields. He returned to Sheffield about 1827 and took a small house - 17 Eyre Street - which he named the Sheffield Eye Dispensary, and soon acquired a considerable reputation. He continued his connection up to the time of his death, being assisted in later years by Edward Dunage L Gillott. The dispensary was closed in 1874, when the patients were transferred to the Sheffield General Dispensary. It had been carried on in Cheney Row; the house was pulled down, and the Town Hall now occupies the site. Gregory was one of the early teachers in the Medical School, and in 1835 lectured on anatomy. It was said of him that he was so good a lecturer, especially when describing the bones of the head, that there were "few to equal and none to excel him". Gregory was a candidate for the post of Surgeon to the Infirmary when Henry Thomas was elected in 1885. When Thomas retired in 1848 Gregory was elected in his stead. Failing health compelled him to retire from the infirmary in 1858, and he died at Brighton on October 29th, 1858. Gregory enjoyed a very large practice in Sheffield and was held in high esteem by his medical colleagues. He devoted his leisure hours to the study of natural history and was an expert microscopist.