But less well known about Abbey Road is what happened in the years leading up to its grand opening. Prior to its conversion to a recording studio, the nine-bedroom house at 3 Abbey Road was linked to criminal activity, political sleaze and – some have suggested – murder. Some even claim that a ghost roams the studio’s corridors as a result. Some claimed that Maundy Gregory and Ukrainian born Sidney Reilly, a British spy, had forged the letter and that Major George Ball, a MI5 officer, leaked it to the press. In 1927 Ball went to work for the Conservative Central Office where he pioneered the idea of spin-doctoring. In 1918, Sir Basil Thomson, head of the Special Branch, asked Maundy Gregory to spy on Grayson, suspecting him of working as an agent for the new communist government in Russia or for the Irish Republican Army. Grayson discovered that Gregory was spying on him and, with the help of some important friends, found out that Prime Minister David Lloyd George was using Gregory to sell political honours.

Wragg pressed him on whether Dorries’ messages potentially conflicted with the Honours (Prevention of Abuses) Act.

More Queer Goings-On at Porter’s Georgian House

Gregory became friends with Vernon Kell, Director of the Home Section of the Secret Service Bureau with responsibility for investigating espionage, sabotage and subversion in Britain. Kell employed Gregory to compile dossiers of possible foreign spies living in London. Later, Gregory was recruited by Sidney Reilly, the top agent the recently formed MI6. He also did work for Basil Thomson, the head of Special Branch. The couple moved to the nine bedroom Abbey Lodge. The house was later converted into the EMI recording studios at Abbey Road where the Beatles famously recorded. a b c Coman, Julian (10 May 2020). "A century on, whatever happened to Labour's firebrand lost leader?". The Observer . Retrieved 10 May 2020.

In the late 1920s Gregory diversified into selling Papal honours, having converted to Roman Catholicism. He had an office in Whitehall at 38 Parliament Street, which had a rear office in Cannon Row as an escape route. Albert Victor Grayson (born 5 September 1881, disappeared 28 September 1920) was an English socialist politician of the early 20th century. An Independent Labour Party Member of Parliament from 1907 to 1910, Grayson is most notable for his sensational by-election victory at Colne Valley, and unexplained disappearance in 1920. The list named businessmen Wilson had chosen to honour to mark his 1976 resignation, making way for James Callaghan as the next prime minister. The list was controversial as many felt it “sanctioned the ennobling and knighting of crooked and dubious businessmen”, according to The Times– many of whom held views antithetical to the values of the Labour Party. Gregory made many friends who were prominent members of British society, including the Duke of York, later King George VI, and the Earl of Birkenhead. He clashed, however, with the radical left-wing politician, and supporter of Lenin, Victor Grayson, [11] who had reportedly discovered that Gregory was selling honours, but who waited to denounce him until he had gathered further proof. Grayson also suspected Gregory of having forged Roger Casement's diaries, which were used to convict him of treason, although it later turned out that Casement had engaged in the homosexual activities described. [11] Albert Victor Grayson was born in Liverpool, the seventh son of William Grayson, a Yorkshire carpenter, and Elizabeth Craig, who was Scottish. [1] He became an apprentice engineer in Bootle. [1] Grayson joined the Independent Labour Party (ILP) and toured the country giving lectures, becoming a well-known orator despite having a stammer. In 1907 he stood as an ILP candidate in the 1907 Colne Valley by-election, having been nominated by the Colne Valley Labour League; he won a sensational, albeit narrow, victory. Grayson was paid an allowance by the ILP but refused to sign the Labour Party constitution.

In 1927, he began selling non-British honours, such as noble titles from Ukraine, papal honours and dispensations. Newspapers also balked at the award of an OBE to Samantha Cameron’s stylist, Isabel Spearman, as well as to other close aides and assistants who worked with cabinet members. One Whitehall source remarked to The Sunday Times: “They must have gone through the No. 10 staff list when they were compiling the nominations. I’m surprised Larry [the Downing Street cat] is not in there.” CBE fixed by Prince Charles' aides a b c d e f g Roger Wilkes (10 February 2001). "Inside story: Vanity Fair". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 1 January 2013. Florrie Middleton, Milton’s sister, who was found to have been receipt of the stolen goods, was employed at the British War Office and had stayed with the two men at The Petrograd Hotel in London. Florrie informed the court that her brother had been an actor and had first become acquainted with Metcalf in 1915. The detectives leading the investigation put the men under ‘close observation’ at their Vernon Court lodgings for some several weeks ( Hotel Jewel Robbery, Globe 03 July 1917, p.7). According to reports of court proceedings, Metcalf’s father was the British Vice Consul of New York. Milton, on the otherhand, wasn’t Frank Milton at all, but Frank Middleton, son of a fish and game dealer in Penrith (Penrith Observer 24 July 1917, p.2). Arthur John Maundy Gregory, [1] [2] [3] who later used the name Arthur John Peter Michael Maundy Gregory [4] [5] (1 July 1877 – 28 September 1941) was a British theatre producer and political fixer who is best remembered for selling honours for Prime Minister David Lloyd George. [6] He may also have been involved with the Zinoviev Letter, the disappearance of Victor Grayson, and the suspicious death of his platonic companion, Edith Rosse. Gregory claimed to be a spy for British intelligence.

Robert Blatchford’s trips to France in 1909 to observe the German Military build-up first-hand for the Daily Mail, may have been facilitated by an associate of Arthur Rose. Chesterfield’s William A. Bond, was sub-editor at the Huddersfield Examiner before taking up a job as Paris correspondent at the Daily Mail. Bond at the time was romancing a feisty young journalist friend of Rose called Aimee Stuart (born Amy McHardy in Glasgow). The pair went on to write ‘The Lady from Edinburgh’ together. Bond became a Flying Ace with the Royal Flying Corps in 1916. His Chesterfield friend, Edwin Swale joined him at the RFC. The Swale family were likewise quite radical (Seth Swale becoming an active member of the Rationalist and Free Thought Society).There are also similarities in how both the Gregory case and the current scandals have at their heart the exchange of honours for political favours. In Lloyd George’s case is was to get additional support in the House of Lords whilst in the current scandal it is related to gaining money for the Conservative Party coffers. Although best remembered for selling honours for Prime Minister David Lloyd George, he may have been involved with the fake Zinoviev Letter which smeared the Labour Party in the 1924 election. He was also connected to the disappearance of Labour MP Victor Grayson in 1920. He had accused Lloyd George of corruption as he was last seen entering Gregory’s house. There was also the suspicious death of his platonic companion, Edith Rosse. Recording studios have a history of hauntings. The Garden studio in London’s Shoreditch, now demolished, was said to be haunted by a young ghost called Elsie whose “unexplained faint whispers” have appeared on records, according to Arctic Monkeys’ Alex Turner, who recorded there. And the stately St. Catherine’s Court near Bath was let out as a recording studio when it was owned by actress Jane Seymour. Radiohead recorded their 1997 opus OK Computer there, and singer Thom Yorke told Rolling Stone that ghosts would “talk” to him while he was asleep. “There was one point when I got up in the morning after a night of hearing voices, and I decided to cut my hair with a penknife,” Yorke said. a b c "Maundy Gregory / Theatre impresario, political fixer, and resident of Thames Ditton". exploringsurreyspast.org.uk . Retrieved 8 May 2011.

Albert Victor Grayson was an English socialist politician of the early 20th century. A Member of Parliament from 1907 to 1910, he is most notable for his sensational by-election victory at Colne Valley in 1907, and for his unexplained disappearance in 1920. Albert Victor Grayson was born in Liverpool, the seventh son of William Grayson, a Yorkshire carpenter, and Elizabeth Craig, who was Scottish. Grayson had no sympathy for the Russian revolutionaries, but he did have links with and sympathies for the IRA. On his return he made several secret trips to Ireland, where he had talks with Michael Collins, who was later one of the leaders of the Irish Free State, founded by the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921, until his assassination in 1922. Grayson soon discovered that Gregory was spying on him, and he became determined to expose him - not only as an honours tout but, what was perhaps even more scandalous, as the possible forger of the infamous Casement diaries. To this end, he made the speech in Liverpool threatening to name Gregory and also began to collect signed statements about his activities as an honours tout. Gregory became extremely alarmed. Grayson was a dangerous enemy who was threatening his source of income. As a journalist, Grayson could easily conduct a campaign to discredit Gregory in a number of publications, always providing he took care not to breach the libel laws.John Walker – The Queen Has Been Pleased: The British Honours System at Work (1986) ISBN 0-436-56111-5 Shortly after being demobbed, The Bioscope cinema journal reports Reid’s appointment as manager of the Royal Cinema in Belfast (11 September 1919 – The Bioscope – London, London, England, p.95) From here he finds employment as Regional Manager with Ideal Films Ltd in Dublin (The Bioscope 27 May 1920, p.9). Interestingly, the company’s founders, Simon and Harry Rowson (born Rosenbaum to Russian immigrant parents in Manchester’s Cheetham Hill) played a key role in a legendary biopic of David Lloyd George, shelved rather unceremoniously in 1918. The film’s screenwriter was journalist and historian, Sir Sidney Low and its director, Maurice Elvey. Low’s niece incidentally, was Ivy Low Litvinov, wife of the Bolshevik minister Maxim Litvinov.