Joshua was born at Appin near Campbelltown, NSW on the 3rd September, 1838. He was the sixth child of John BRAY & Charlotte Storer of Campbelltown.
Joshua BRAY died on 20 February 1918 at his home Kynnumboon, Murwillumbah, N.S.W. at the age of 79.
Joshua Bray JP, Post Master, Police Magistrate, & Farmer.
It was during the 1860's that the Nixons took up a selection on the Brungle Creek and became neighbours of the Brays. This is how Joshua Bray came to meet Rosalie Gertrude Nixon ('Tottie') and subsequently marry her in 1866. John Bray held the Brungle Run in the Tumut district which Joshua and his brother James worked. Joshua Bray married Rosalie Gertrude Nixon, daughter of George Russell Nixon and his wife Rosalie, in Armidale N.S.W. Joshua Bray was appointed the first postmaster in 1866 at Tweed River and was later appointed a police magistrate and a clerk of Petty Sessions. In addition he was a farmer, raised cattle and also was the Protector of Aborigines.
Joshua BRAY married Miss Rosalie Gertrude Nixon in Armidale, NSW. - (Ref- NSW BDM 1339/1866).
- Newspaper - MARRIAGE On the 15th instant, at Armidale, by the Rev. S. Hungerford, JOSHUA, third son of JOHN BRAY, Esq., J.P., of Denfield, near Campbelltown, to ROSALIE GERTRUDE, second daughter of GEORGE RUSSELL NIXON, Esq., of Avenex, Tumut.
Joshua and Rosalie had 14 children, 13 of whom reached adult life.
1. 21190/1876 BRAY ETHEL CHARLOTTE L parents JOSHUA & ROSALIE GERTRUDE in TWEED RIVER
2. 21609/1877 BRAY WINIFRED A G parents JOSHUA & ROSALIE GERTRUDE in TWEED RIVER
3. 15775/1867 BRAY NINA R parents JOSHUA ROSALIE in TWEED RIVER
4. 16050/1868 BRAY EVELEEN G JOSHUA & ROSALIE G in om TWEED RIVER
5. 17884/1870 BRAY FLORENCE MARY parents JOSHUA & ROSALIE GERTRUDE in TWEED RIVER
6. 18222/1871 BRAY EDWARD L parents JOSHUA & ROSALIE in TWEED RIVER
7. 19620/1873 BRAY REGINALD NORMAN parents JOSHUA & ROSALIE GERTRUDE in TWEED RIVER
8. 26405/1881 BRAY JOHN FRANK R JOSHUA & ROSALIE GERTRUDE in TWEED RIVER
9. 27373/1882 BRAY PERCY V R parents JOSHUA & ROSALIE G in TWEED RIVER
10. 32376/1885 BRAY MARJORIE H parents JOSHUA ROSALIE G in TWEED RIVER
11. 35339/1888 BRAY CLIVE R parents JOSHUA & ROSALIE G in TWEED RIVER
12. 24389/1879 BRAY MARY S parents JOSHUA & ROSALIE G in TWEED RIVER
13. 180261/2005 BRAY DOROTHY F parents JOSHUA & ROSALIE G
Personal Notes: http://www.tweedhistory.org.au/murwillumbah/bray.shtml
Joshua Bray was the sixth child of John and Charlotte (Storer) Bray of 'Denfield', Campbelltown, NSW. John Bray held the Brungle Run in the Tumut District which Joshua and his Brother James worked.
It was during the 1860's that the Nixons took up a selection on the Brungle Creek and became neighbours of the Brays. This is how Joshua Bray came to meet Rosalie Gertrude Nixon ('Tottie') and subsequently marry her in 1866.
Joshua was born at Appin near Campbelltown, NSW in 1838. (His father was also a 'colonial' being born at Concorde, NSW 1798). The family was quite prosperous.
Rosalie Gertrude was born of a family of modest means at Tenby in Wales in 1846. She spent most of her childhood near Vevey in Switzerland where her father, an Oxford Graduate, tutored the children of English families living there. She arrived in Melbourne on the 'Albion' in 1862 with her mother and six siblings. They were met by their father who had preceded them to the colony and had been staying with his brother the first Bishop of Tasmania.
From there they went to Tumut and took up their selection
Samuel William Gray, Member for Kiama, married Mary, Joshua's sister in 1862. Land had been released and put up for auction by the government. Samuel Gray was the highest bidder, this land was to become the 'Walumbin Run'. In 1862 Samuel went up to inspect his lease and was so impressed he had a six roomed house moved from Tweed Heads and re-erected at the edge of Walumbin Plain. The current site of the Australian Heritage listed. 'Lisnagar'.
In March 1864 Samuel returned with his wife and child, shortly after them Joshua Bray joined them and they became partners. In 1865 Joshua returned to Tumut and became engaged to Rosalie (called Gertrude). He returned to the Tweed with a carpenter who built him a house of pit saw timber, Joshua named the house, 'Kynnumboon', an Aboriginal name for the land on which it was built. Joshua and Gertrude were married in Armidale NSW, they then went by gig to Singleton, train to Newcastle and boat to Sydney for a short honeymoon. They returned to the Tweed going by boat to Brisbane, Qld. and then rode down to the Tweed on horseback.
Joshua established the first postal service between the Tweed and the mouth of the Richmond and was officially appointed postmaster in November 1866. Once a month he despatched two Aborigines with outward mail sealed in a pouch, to Ballina. There they handed the pouch to the postmaster and received in return, a sealed pouch containing inward mail. It was this post office that, some ten years later became the Murwillumbah Post Office. As well as being a farmer and postmaster Joshua performed many other public duties, some of which were, Justice of the Peace, Clerk of Petty Sessions, the first Police Magistrate presiding at Murwillumbah and Cudgen, Coroner, Registrar of B.D.M. and Protector of Aborigines.
The Parish of Kynnumboon was named after the house by Surveyor Barling who came to the Tweed to measure land in 1868.
Joshua had good relations with the Aborigines and learned to speak their language and carefully studied their customs and culture.
Relatives of both Joshua and Gertrude came to the Tweed. The years slipped by, Joshua and Gertrude had fourteen children, eleven of them surviving their father. In his declining years Joshua felt, as many other pioneers must have felt that the march of events was outstripping him. Little by little he withdrew from public life and the new generation of Murwillumbah residents saw him less and less until he became an unknown to them.
On 21st February 1918 the Mayor and Aldermen of Murwillumbah, the president and councillors of the old Tweed Shire, representatives of the local business and farming communities and residents of the town and district gathered at the Murwillumbah Cemetery to pay their last respects to one who had played a significant role in the early history and development of the Tweed Valley.
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