GRAY, John
| There is insufficient information to identify this man either as a casualty or a Newmarket person. It is possible he was John M. GRAY, born last quarter of 1919, mother's maiden name given as GRAY. Birth register:-Newmarket 3b:853. There is no way at present of establishing which casualty this is. I have been told he was in the Territorials before the war, an amateur boxer, but the gentleman who told me this had no other information, and is no longer with us unfortunately. There is a possibility he was of the GRAY family of travellers living at the top of Duchess Drive. To this end enquiries are ongoing with the Romany and Travellers Family History Society. Even then, with a surname of GRAY it is unlikely to get positive identification enough to link him with any casualty. Possibly he was related to the Gray family (with a travellers history) of Newmarket, who lost a son in WW1. see here There was a GRAY family living at 3 Park Avenue in 1939, John and Alice E with son Arthur M (19/9/1917). Arthur's mother was registered as SMITH, and there was a John GRAY born 1910 with mother SMITH but he died at 3 weeks old. Despite it seeming that John married Alice Emma SMITH in 1902, all their other children (Amy Edith, Stanley Frederick and Ena Florence) were registered with Mother's maiden name as PURTON. Alice E Gray here appears to the the same that married John Gray in 1902 and died in Newmarket in 1951. The mystery deepens ! |
