Reg Gilroy was the father of Alec and Edna Gilroy. Husband of Mabel, Reg and the family lived at 4 Back Gas Street, just along from the local gasworks where Reg worked as a stoker. Reg left Mabel for another woman when Alec and Edna were still children, going on to remarry and father another daughter, Brenda. Many years later, when Brenda was 27, Reg thought he was dying and got in touch with Alec, introducing him to the sister he never knew.