William Alexander (Matey) Bray with his best mate Jack - died in 1973 at Blackball

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DescriptionMatey worked as a winch driver at the Blackball mine for years. He always preferred night shift. He was often seen preparing a snack of two large lumps of steak on a special piece of metal over the fire. One piece for himself and the other for his best mate, Jack, the dog.

Matey and Jack lived at Boom Town, but they had once been in Reefton where Matey was a lay preacher in the church. After an argument he torched the church and went to jail. He’d never say for how long, but he’d say “I got paid 1/6d a day and I ended up with £2/4/6. Bloody well work it out for yourself.”
His Dad was a confectioner and Matey too made beautiful colourful boiled lollies which he kept in a pickled onion jar.
Matey died in 1973 at Blackball during Robert Collin’s twenty-first but he was left propped up in the corner until the party was over.

The Gordon Howitt West Coast Historic Photograph Collection.
Ref: 21854Map^[1]ContributorGeoffrey Bell

Shown in this image

Location (city or town)BlackballPersonWilliam Alexander Bray

From Facebook

Date Created30th September 2025CommentsPeter Fleming
Matey gave Mum a bag of lollies to take to Australia in 1967 for me.

Raylene Black
Yes I remember that night many years ago, wasn't a drama like it would be now..

John Paget
My mum lived two doors from the club, i knew Matey and his friends. One called Boof. Real name please i never knew it and Stonewall Jackson. They liked a beer and so did i back then.

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William Alexander (Matey) Bray with his best mate Jack - died in 1973 at Blackball

Editing is temporarily disabled