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Dolly Gray was mentioned by
Billy Bennington,
who remembered him playing on the streets of Norwich with the dulcimer on a
pram.
Many years later, as a result of publicising our search, a granddaughter of
Dolly Gray contacted EATMT with information about him, and also her father
and uncles who played, tuned and repaired dulcimers in the mid twentieth
century. Dolly was a family nickname, handed on to the oldest son in each
generation.
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A newspaper article appealing
for information about a photograph of a fishing trip leaving from the Albert
Tavern, Norwich, which had been presented to the Brideswell museum. The
landlord of the pub is identified as Herbert Ernest Jefferies which dates
the photo between 1910 and 1912.
A handwritten note on the top
right hand corner of the newspaper clipping identifies members of the Gray
family in the photo. The concertina player is unidentified.
George was born in the Coslany area of Norwich and worked in the boot trade
all his life. He is known to have played in pubs and played the banjo as
well as the dulcimer.
His three sons, Albert, Johnny and Billy could all tune and repair
dulcimers. Albert, Johnny and their youngest sister Harriet could all play
too, although their playing tended to be limited to the home. Albert
stepdanced and played the spoons too.
Albert’s daughter and son remember their father restringing dulcimers for
other people and making bridges and beaters.
 Further back in the family, George Gray’s father, Everitt (1838-1916) was
licensee of the Golden Dog in Magdalen Street in Norwich in the 1890s, and
then of the Dove on Barrack Street, subsequently run by his son John until
its closure in 1907. A photo from the 1920s has been unearthed, showing a
fishing trip from the Golden Dog, with a dulcimer in the foreground – this
may well belonged to one of the Grays, but unfortunately it’s not possible
to identify the people in the photograph now.
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