[2] In 1822, following successful experiments to improve fermentation, it was reported that the Gray and Dacre Brewery would be adopting a new fermentation system, using equipment provided by the copper merchants James Shears and Sons.
Gray subsequently visited France to observe fermentation techniques there.
[3] Gray died in 1826 and was buried under the floor of the nave of All Saints Church, West Ham.
[4] His widow Lydia (1794-1855) continued to manage the business with the Dacre family.
John and Lydia's children included Ann Thomson Gray, author of The Twin Pupils: Or, An Education at Home, and Frances Gray, who married her cousin the Rev.