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Born Dull?! salutes Reginald Bray’s greatest hits

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18th Dec 2014
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Academic and raconteur Dr David Bramwell celebrates the life of accountant Reginald Bray, who tested the early postal system to bizarre limits.

Born in 1879, William Reginald Bray was an accountant  from Forest Hill in Surrey. As a young man he had interests typical for his age: philately, cycling, beer, collecting rail tickets and chasing girls. But a purchase of the new ‘Post Office Guide' in 1898 changed Bray's life.

The guide informed him that the smallest living thing that could be posted through the mail was a bee; the largest a giraffe. Bray dedicated the rest of his life to testing the Royal Mail to its limits. His pioneering experiments included posting vegetables, animals and letters knitted by his mother. He died in 1939, a true pioneer of the audit spirit who sent more than 30,000 strange objects through the mail over his lifetime.

This collection of postal oddities was made possible by John Tingey, author of ‘The Englishman Who Posted Himself and Other Curious Objects’(a perfect Christmas gift for cunning accountants) and the other collectors of Bray memorabilia who gave permission to use their images.

David Bramwell is the author of ‘The No9 Bus to Utopia’ and was inspired by Reginald Bray to see if the modern, privatised postal system was up to similar challenges with a friend who is now known by local post office workers as “the eccentric ginger-haired bloke from Tickenham”. Bramwell signs off this memorial of Bray with the advice: “Go home tonight and post a slipper to someone you love.” 

Reginald Bray's greatest hits

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