Born in Forest Hill in 1879 Reginald, he hated the name Willie developed a fascination and lifelong passion of sending items through the post that, in one form or other, challenged the Post Office. He started testing the regulations in 1898 by seeing how effective the Post Office could decipher the way items were addressed.

 

He sent cards with the address written in verse, written backwards and even had himself delivered as a “human letter” through the postal system by two postman having paid the requisite postage. After experimenting with a number of postal curios his main focus was on the collection of autographs through the post. He sent out thousands of cards to all types of people, ranging from the Pope to the local Station Master, asking for them to return the relevant item duly autographed, which William Barnes did in November 1903.

 

Between 1899 and 1934 Reginald amassed over 15,000 autographs of celebrities, politicians and sportsmen, declaring himself the "Autograph King" – the creation of the world’s largest autograph collection at that time, acquired entirely through the post, a title that was undisputed by his peers. George V, Winston Churchill and Adolf Hitler were all notable non-signers. After several requests to Hitler he received a firm but polite refusal, stating that as the Fuhrer was already overburdened with work would Bray "refrain from further letters in this regard".

 

Do you have a Bray postcard in your collection?

It looks like there might be another West ham United one out there somewhere if Syd King did return the other card sent it him back in 1903.

 

If you would like to find out more about this remarkable man please visit www.wrbray.org.uk