Family background
Robert Joseph Gray was born c1817 in Newtownstewart, Tyrone, Ireland, son of Arthur Robert Gray and Margaret Johnson. He married (1) Mary Ann Gilmore (1818-58) in 1837 in Newtownstewart, Tyrone, Ireland. There were five children; 3 sons and 2 daughters. Gray and his wife immigrated to Australia, arriving in Sydney in 1837 by the vessel ’Adam Lodge’. He married (2) Eliza Jane Croskery (1842-89) on 4 August 1864 in Berrima, NSW and they had seven children: 5 sons and 2 daughters. Robert Joseph Gray died on 6 January 1888 in Redfern, NSW, aged 69 years and he was buried in the Methodist Section at Rookwood Cemetery. He lived in Wellington Street, Waterloo (1879) and Cooper Street, Waterloo (1882).
Occupation & interests
Robert Gray was a builder.
Community activity
Gray was on Waterloo Council’s Works Committee. In 1884 he expressed the opinion that he thought that it would be mean and paltry to allow any person to advertise on the backs of the borough rate payers. He thought it would also be likely to mislead the ratepayers, who would throw the papers away under the impression that they were mere handbills.
Local government service
Robert Gray was an alderman on Waterloo Council in 1878-84.
References
‘Municipal Nominations’, Evening News, 7 February 1878, p. 1, http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/107935712
‘Brevities’, Evening News, 11 October 1884, p.4