WE now know a little more about the branch of the Bray family that lived at Cliffe and Underbank in Holmfirth at the turn of the 20th century.

The original query on this page on April 7 came from Essex policeman Garry Bray who knew that his family were long-established in Holmfirth.

He couldn’t put a single name to the set of rather unusual pictures he supplied – but noticed that one face appeared on all of them.

Margaret Charlesworth was able to identify that man as Sam Bray, her great-uncle. Margaret is a Bray.

Sam – who only had one arm – and his family lived at Cliffe in his younger days and he was a member of the Underbank Wesleyan (Methodist church) Physical Culture Club.

Margaret thought he lost his arm in a works accident, but went on to become a surveyor with Holmfirth Urban District Council.

Margaret also surmises that Sam got substantial compensation for the accident that enabled him to buy three neighbouring houses in Underbank which were all occupied by Brays.

She said she’d had a look in the family Bible – such things are a rare treasure these days – and noted that Ben Bray, born 1847, appears to be the patriarch from which the Holmfirth Bray clan sprang.

He is most likely Garry’s great great grandfather which, according to Margaret’s Bible, would make one Fred Bray Garry’s great grandfather.

Fred’s son, then, must have been Kenneth Bray, who married Marjorie Booth.

Grandmother Marjorie Booth had a relative – possibly a sister – who was a model for Bamforth’s earliest postcards.

The couple lived in Dunford Road. This was where Gary’s father, Edward Stuart Bray, lived for a time.

Another helper in the search for Garry’s ancestors was Sheila Walshaw. She is in her 80s and lives in Upperthong.

Her father, Thorpe Brook, is second from the right on the front row of the Wesleyan athletes’ line-up. He became a grocer in Holmfirth.

Another man in the picture is Battye Berry (left, in suit). His sister was Sam Bray’s wife.

On the longer row (second from right) is Albert Brook who worked in local film production – another Bamforth’s employee – but later went to work at the famous Ealing Studios in London.