Background
He was born in Sarnia, Upper Canada in 1836 and educated in Amherstburg.
He was born in Sarnia, Upper Canada in 1836 and educated in Amherstburg.
He represented Essex in the Canadian House of Commons as a Liberal member from 1874 to 1878 and from 1891 to 1900. He supplied horses to the Union Army during the American Civil War. McGregor was president of the Walkerville Wagon Company Limited.
He also owned the street railway in Windsor, a bank, a mill and a fence company.
McGregor served as reeve of Windsor for 6 years and as warden for Essex County from 1869 to 1870 and from 1872 to 1873. He also served as customs collector at Windsor.
He died in Windsor at the age of 66. The town of McGregor, now part of Essex, Ontario, was named after William McGregor.