Ray was very close to his two oldest sisters, who were like second mothers to him. Tragically Renee, the eldest, passed away when she was only thirty-one and Ray was thirteen. In 1964 his second sister, Rosie, emigrated to Australia with her husband, Arthur and their son, Terry. Ray was devastated by this second loss,
"I started screaming. A part of my family had left, possibly forever...I collapsed in a heap on the sandy beach and wept like a pathetic child"
His sisters emigration later inspired the album, Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire). Rosie passed away in 2014.
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