Image: Wikimedia Commons

Gregor MacGregor

British soldier, adventurer and confidence trickster (1786-1845)

PersonDied aged 58humanQ330882

Also known as General Gregor MacGregor · Gregor McGregor · Thomas Strangeways · Captain Thomas Strangeways · Gregor the First

Born: December 24, 1786
1
Sources
1.Stated in SNACRetrieved 2017-10-09
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Died: December 4, 1845
1
Sources
1.Stated in SNACRetrieved 2017-10-09
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Birthplace: Stirlingshire
Place of death: Caracas
Citizenship: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Occupation: explorer
, military personnel
, mercenary
+4 more
Positions held: cacique(1821–1837)
Education: University of Edinburgh

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · Read full article · Text CC BY-SA 4.0

Gregor MacGregor was a Scottish soldier, adventurer and con man who attempted from 1821 to 1837 to draw British and French investors and settlers to "Poyais", a fictional Central American territory that he claimed to rule as "Cazique". Hundreds invested their savings in supposed Poyaisian government bonds and land certificates. About 250 emigrated to MacGregor's invented country in 1822–1823 to find only an untouched jungle in Honduras; more than half of them died. MacGregor's Poyais scheme has been called one of the most brazen confidence tricks in history.

Overview

Author of

1 linked to Gregor MacGregor in Wikidata

SSketch of the Mosquito Shore1822

Created

1 linked to Gregor MacGregor in Wikidata

Poyais1821 · fictitious Central American country

All data

49 statements · 22% with external sources · numbers in brackets are citations

Sex or gender: male
Given name: Gregor
Military branch: British Army
Participated in conflict: Peninsular War
Spanish American wars of independence
Military, police or special rank: divisional general
Family name: MacGregor
Name in native language: Gregor MacGregor
Copyright status as a creator: copyrights on works have expired

On other databases

25 identifiers linking Gregor MacGregor across the web's reference databases

Data quality

statements

22%

externally sourced

Source last edited October 10, 2026. AIDb refreshes this page daily.

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AIDb. (2026). Gregor MacGregor (Q330882). Retrieved from https://aidb.si/e/gregor-macgregor-Q330882