Roy was born 1920 in Stratford, East London and attended Cental Foundation Boys School in City Road near Liverpool street station. Following school he worked for British Railways as a clerk – his training being as an accountant – but at the beginning of the Second World War Roy moved to Newquay in Cornwall to avoid the blitz. He then joined the army and was posted to the R.E.M.E. Roy served in Persia and later in Italy, notably being left behind by his unit when wrongly diagnosed with a heart condition and hospitalised against his will.
Once the war ended he returned to work with British Railways where he was able to use his access to railway property to carry on his photographic interests with some success. He served his final years at York’s Railway headquarters as an Establishment officer having moved from accounts to
the personnel side of the job. Roy retired from British Railways in 1975.
Once retired he worked on slide tape productions and acted as a consultant for Saville photographic in York. Unfortunately, he was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1980 and died in October of that year.
