Joshua Bray

Bray was born in Appin, New South Wales and he was the sixth of ten children born to John and Charlotte Bray. He spend most of his early life, from the age of two, at the family property, called Denfield, just outside of Campbelltown. When Bray was 16, in 1855, his father took up land on the Tumut River, called Brungle (now Brungle, New South Wales) and Bray, alongside his brothers, ran the property. == Life in the Tweed Region ==

In 1862 Bray went into partnership with Samuel Gray, who was one of his brothers-in-law, and they purchased the lease on a large property in the Tweed Region which they named Upper Walumban (also recorded as Wollumben and Walumbin Run) with a total land area of . For this investment Bray moved to the region in 1863, sailing from Sydney to Ballina, and arriving on 24 June. Bray took a keen interest in the local Aboriginal people and he immediately began to learn the Yugambeh–Bundjalung languages and was soon able to carry a conversation with people in their own language. In July 1864, to stock the station, Bray became the first man to drove cattle across the Nightcap Range and, in a letter to his future wife, he described it as "very unpleasant". Throughout the remainder of the 1860s and beyond Bray became increasingly involved on public life in the Tweed and he became a prominent community leader. In 1866 he became the first postmaster when the first post office was established at his home and Gertrude served as the postmistress; it was known as 'Wollumben Post Office'. This appointment made official work that Bray had already been doing as, before the post office opened, Bray had already been organising Aboriginal men to carry mail from up from Ballina and Casino and also down from Queensland. == Later life and death ==

Bray started taking a step back from his government roles in the 1890s and he and Gertrude travelled extensively. == References ==