Mr Charles Bray (31 January 1811–5 October 1884)

British philosopher and free religious thinker. Bray was born in Coventry, England into a wealthy family. Raised as a Methodist, as an adult he sceptic of all denominational religion and was an early supporter of national undenominational education. He was a member of the British Phrenological Association and was also interested in mesmerism and spiritualism, publishing a pamphlet on clairvoyants entitled Illusion and Delusion (1873), and delivering a paper before the Psychological Society of Great Britain, "Natural law: as automatic mind or unconscious intelligence" (1874). He died at home in Coventry, England.