 His mother, Barbara Gudex, along with her brother MIchael Gudex left Kindenheim, Germany in 1866 and arrived at Lyttelton on the "Mermaid", on 5 January 1867.McGregor made his provincial rugby union début playing for Canterbury in 1900 when he was just 19.In 1902 he had a stellar season, scoring 17 tries for Canterbury and 2 for South Island in just 10 first class matches.