A familiar figure in the town and surrounding district was Arthur Raymond Clarke, known as Ray. A son of a butcher, he turned his wood working skills into that of an undertaker. In 1934 he bought the business of H.W. Sargent in Kings Road, Halstead where there has been an undertaker for over 100 years, retiring after 27 years. He is seen here making a coffin, one of many, all had cut from beech, oak and elm, purchased from T. & A. J. Mann of Earls Colne. He was a funeral director and a very religious man, being a member of the Plymouth Brethren. He died in 1982 aged 93 years.
