James D. M. Gray
Toronto Daily Star, April 1 1932
Searches for James D. M. Gray turned up a photo of him and his plane from a June 1933 edition of a New Zealand newspaper. I found no record of whether he was successful.
Since he is described as a Toronto aviator, I looked him up in the Toronto city directories. The 1932 directory lists J. D. M. Gray as the proprietor of The Aviation Shop; I'm pretty sure this is him. He has a common name, but I think I found him in some subsequent directories:
- The 1933 directory lists James D. Gray as an aviation and auto engineer.
- The 1935 directory lists James D. M. Gray as the proprietor of Automotive Research Laboratories.
- The 1936 directory lists him as the service manager of United Motors Service.
He is not listed in the 1937 and 1938 directories.
I found one other reference to a James D. M. Gray: a New York Times article from 1914 that reported that 23-year-old James D. M. Gray had eloped with 16-year-old Miss Annabel Dade. I have no idea if this is the same James D. M. Gray; the pilot in the above photo would have to have been 41 years old, which is at least plausible.
Created October 18, 2025.