Herbert (Hubert) Septimus Ray was born in 1894; he was one of ten children born to coal merchant Edwin Runchman Ray and his wife, Alice Mary Maud Ray. In 1911, Herbert was working as a clerk to a paint manufacturer and living in the family home at Firleigh, Hermon Hill, Wanstead.
Hubert joined the army in 1914, enlisting with the 2nd Battalion, Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge’s Own). He was sent to the Western Front but was killed on 14th March 1915, aged 21. His name can be found on the Le Touret Memorial in Calais, France.
Along with Douglas Haydn Garner, Wilfred Piercy, and Herbert William Robinson he has a window dedicated to his memory in Wanstead Methodist Church.
Research by Redbridge Museum
Sources:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Ancestry.com