Cecil Albert Gregory

Learn about the career and achievements of the founder of the iconic Gregory’s Street Directory.

black and white photograph of the NRMA office with Cecil Gregory seated at a desk writing and other employees on the telephone, typing or looking at large wall maps

Cecil Gregory (seated) NRMA offices, Sydney

Cartographer, journalist and map extraordinaire. Cecil (Cec) Albert Gregory was a Bathurst journalist who moved to Sydney to write for Sydney’s The Daily Telegraph in 1921. In 1923 he produced the Daily Telegraph Guide to Sydney which included colour maps.

The NRMA years

Gregory became an NRMA Councillor on 10 April 1925 and by 1926, he was the Touring and Publicity Manager, a role that he held until his resignation from the NRMA in June 1933.

During his tenure at the NRMA, Gregory also became the Editor and publisher of Good Roads, the magazine that was to become The Open Road.

In 1928, Gregory proposed a Safety First campaign, which was to continue into 1929, in an attempt to lower the motor vehicle accident rate. The Safety First Campaign was eventually extended to schools, becoming one of the most important campaigns that we ran. In the 1930s, the child mortality rate of Sydney’s roads had reached a crisis. Gregory implemented a school safety program to protect children crossing roads before and after school. Students managed traffic with arm bands and flags. Many years later, we lobbied the government to install flashing lights in every school in NSW by 2015.

It was during Gregory’s time at the NRMA that he started producing and publishing guide books that were distributed by the NRMA. Touring and road tripping were very popular in the 1920s and 1930s and our Members were no different. It was Gregory who established the Road Before You series of strip maps. What made his maps the most authentic of all that were produced during this time – Gregory often drove these routes himself and shared his observations.

Gregory's Street Directory

When Gregory resigned from the NRMA in 1933, he set up the Australian Guide Book Company with cartographer Clive Barrass. They would go on to publish Gregory’s Street Directory of Sydney and Suburbs. It was also designed to fit into the glove box of a car, unlike its competitors.

Gregory produced many road maps and guides throughout his lifetime – extending guides to some of our major highways (Hume, Pacific and New England), Jenolan Caves and Blue Mountains. He also mapped Victoria and Queensland. He produced maps of Papua New Guinea and Hong Kong in 1949 and 1953 respectively due to his frustration at the lack of tourist guides available for holidays overseas, and an Australian school atlas for children.

By the time Gregory passed away in 1974, he was the most well-known street directory and tourist guide publisher in Australia – almost everyone has owned a Gregory’s Street Directory.

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