1Ernest Raymond Collins, The Bray Family. February 28th 1981, Published Feb 28th 1981.
This compilation of the Bray Genealogy was done by Ernest Raymond Collins. He has no blood relationship with the Bray family. His step mother was Gertrude Bray Collins. The sources for this genealogy were; the Bray Family Bible, (Circa mid 1800's, previously printed data, research and information obtained from the Bray's of South Gate California, of Vancouver Island and the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. For some interesting stories of the Bray's, see the notes in Ernest Raymond Collins. During the research that was done, a copy of a March, 1851 census return was found. An extract from that return showed the following: Back Lane, Winterton, Lincs Age Born
"These comments are from “The Bray Family” by Ernest Raymond Collins, Feb 28th, 1981.
Mathew Bray 39 Builder, employing 2 men, Scunthorp, Lincs
Isabella “ 33 Wife Roxby, Lincs
Hannah M “ 14 dau Winterton, Lincs.
George “ 12 son “
Alfred “ 10 son “
Elizabeth “ 7 dau “
Mary “ 4 dau “
Charles “ 2 son “
Lucy “ 5 mon dau “
Robert “ 71 Father, retired labourer Beelsby, Lincs
John Drury Drury 10 Apprentice E. Butterwick The above extract is shown because it is felt that the information shown brings to life momentarily that century and quarter old Bray family. It is interesting to note that Mathew Bray was in the construction business, and so was his son Robert and Robert’s sons as well. A commentary of the times is indicated by the fact that as late as 1851, an apprentice to the building trade was only 10 years old. One wonders whether Mathew’s older sons were working for him at that age too. A copy of Mathew Bray’s will was also discovered. It was dated November 12, 1890 and in it he describes himself as a bricklayer. The probate of the will was accepted on July 25, about six months after his death, at the City of Lincoln in England. His second wife, Mary Bray, inherited everything, providing that she remained a widow. In the event that she died or remarried, her three youngest children would inherit, if they had not reached their 21st birthday. Otherwise, if she died still a widow, the balance of the estate would be divided among all the surviving children of both marriages. From the will, one learns of the married names of the daughters, e.g. Hannah Maria Hewitt; Mary Whittaker; Elizabeth Harrison; Lucy Coston; Jane Fenton; Emmeline Frances Longfellow. One wonders just who received the proceeds of the estate. Mary (Barclay) Bray was alive at the time the will was probated. She would have been 67 years old then. When she married Mathew, she would have been 38 years old. She was of Scots descent. In those times, it was not uncommon for girls from Scotland to seek employment as domestics in England. It is quite possible therefore, that Mary (Barclay) Bray had been the housekeeper in Matthew Bray’s home prior to the death of his first wife. It has not been possible to trace the date of Mary’s death. To do so would entail much expense. One might assume that at her age and given the social mores of the times, she never remarried. Does anyone know if Robert Bray inherited any portion of his fathers estate? Robert and Emily Bray, having been married for about 9 months, emigrated to America, leaving England May 25th, 1873. They apparently settled in Peuwaukee, Wisconsin, which now appears to be on the western outskirts of Milwaukee. Three sons were born there, George, Tim and Robert Darcy. One would assume that during the 12 years that they were there, Robert practiced his trade as a contractor or bricklayer. It is not known why the family returned to England, but return they did, arriving back in England on October 18th 1885. It may have been that Roberts father was frail and dying. However, Mathew did not die until 4 years later. There is no record of the date that Robert and his family left for Canada, but it was probably around the early 1900’s. In evidence of this it is pointed out that Hannah Mary Bray was born in 1891. It is fairly certain that Robert would not have gone away if his father was dying. There is a story to the effect that Robert liked to stay till all hours in the local pub and that his daughter Gertie was the only person who would be able to fetch him home. It is likely that Gertie would have had to be 8 to 10 years old at least to be able to do this. Gertie was born in 1890, and it is said that Robert was her father but that his wife was not her mother. It is suggested that her mother may have been a domestic in the house. In any case, it is known that in later days, Gertie corresponded with a person in Hull, Yorkshire, who was known to the writer as “Aunt Polly”. Whatever the case, Gertie was adopted by the Bray family. The writer (and others) is aware that Robert Bray and his yet unmarried family lived at 461 Bannerman Ave., Winnipeg, Manitoba. There were two houses on one lot. The first house was built at the rear of the lot and was 1 ½ stories, wood frame construction, but without insulation. With the frigid winters in Winnipeg, the lack of insulation would be most difficult to tolerate. This house was built as a temporary measure, until the main house was built. It too was a 1 ½ story of brick or brick veneer construction. Mrs. Edie (Bray) High mentioned that when she and her mother arrived from England (Her father and brothers having arrived earlier) they spent a winter in the first built house at the rear of the lot. It was so cold, she said, that they could see domes of frost and ice which formed over each nail head or piece of metal which had a connection to the outside. Perhaps a description of the main house might be of interest to some. The house faced a street along which ran street cars, which had driving positions at each end of the car, so that it was unnecessary to turn them around for the return journey. The house had a wooden front veranda across its front. The front door, at one side of the house, led into a front passage, which in turn led to a combination family/dining room. From the passage a door led into the parlor, which from a small boy’s point of view, was opened only on holidays or special times, when there was a family gathering. The family room was large. It contained a big dining table, chairs, and a big solid fuel burning cook stove. The stove supplied whatever heating was needed. Its smoke pipe ran through a couple of rooms providing radiated heat, before being vented into a chimney. Opening off the family room was a bedroom and scullery. The later was a sort of kitchen-pantry. At one end of the kitchen sink was a hand pump, which pumped up soft rain water from the cistern in the basement. In the late spring it was not uncommon to see a clutch of hen’s eggs, warming behind the stove, and in due time baby chicks would hatch, to add to Robert Bray’s chickens. These were kept in the original house in the back. Leading out of the family room, at the rear of the house, was a large summer kitchen. It contained a second wood stove, where cooking was done in the summer. In addition there was an enormous amount of odds and ends collected there. It is not thought that there was a bathroom in the house. There was a toilet in the basement. Bathing would have probably been done in front of one of the stove. There were two bedrooms upstairs, each with its commode. (A commode was a wooden stand, having a dish and a large pitcher for water. Beneath the counter, in a small cupboard would be kept the chamber pot.} Roberts wife, Emily (on reflection) always seemed to be “housekeeping” and one wonders if she got much fun out of life. She was also asthmatic and when having a severe attack, she would get under a blanket tent and inhale sulfur fumes. It was interesting to learn from Evie (Bray) Cairns, n meeting her for the first time a couple of years ago, that the Collins family at 535 Bannerman Ave. , , Winnipeg, which had been lived in previously by her family(Tim Bray). The writer never knew this fact until this meeting. As each of the remaining children of the immediate descendants of Robert and Emily Bray will have his/her own memories of these early days, it seems to be inappropriate to relate ones own. It would be good if others would jot down their memories for the benefit of their own families. Perhaps a more recent descendant of the Bray family may be interested in continuing the Bray genealogy. It would be a pity if there weren’t. If there is, good luck. Ernest R. Collins February 28, 1981.".