George Alfred Bray (1895-1962) named this street for himself in 1924 on the Mesmer City tract, which he co-owned with fellow Brit Howard Grosvenor Teale (1884-1958). Bray, a World War I veteran, came to L.A. in 1922. He married Margaret Ethel Peck two years later, but it was not to last: in 1928, just as Mesmer City opened for sales, Margaret accused George of cheating on her. She would then sue him several times for support, claiming he was an abusive drunk with a habit of blasting a police siren into her bedroom at night(!). Margaret secured her divorce in 1931 and was awarded their two kids and their Gardner Street home. In 1933, an inebriated George burned down the house – his family survived – and was convicted of arson. (Earlier that year, he hit a stenographer with his car and was also charged with evading his taxes. Not a good time to cross paths with George Alfred Bray!) Curiously, he wasn’t actually sent to prison until 1940, but he was released after a couple of years and settled down in Walnut Creek, CA to run a photography studio.
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