Reginald was born about 1889, the son of George and Emma Anstey.
George (b. Morden, Dorset) married Emma Down (b. Frome, Somerset), the daughter of Thomas Morgan and Sarah Down, in Warminster in 1874 (Jul/Aug/Sep). They were to have six children of whom five were still living at the time of the 1911 census: Bessie Amelia, Herbert Henry, Sarah Ethel, Charles James and Reginald John L. Apart from Reginald, all the children were born in Bala, Merionethshire.
In 1881 George was a kennel man/huntsman, living in Llanfor, Merionethshire, with his wife. They had three children, Bessie Amelia (4), Herbert Henry (2) and Sarah Ethel (6 months). At the time of the census their daughter Bessie was visiting her grandparents, Thomas and Sarah Down, in Corsley, Wiltshire.
By 1891 the family was living at the Keeper's Cottage, Cranfield, Bedfordshire, where George was a gamekeeper. He and Emma now had five children: Bessie, Herbert, Sarah, Charles (9) and Reginald (2).
George was still working as a gamekeeper in Cranfield ten years later in 1901 although the family's address was given on the census as 'Dodswell'. Only two of their children were at home on the night of the census, Charles (19, carpenter and builder) and Reginald, who was still at school. Also in the household was a boarder, George Harvey (27), who was also a gamekeeper.
By 1911 George and Emma were living alone in the Keeper's Lodge, Cranfield Court, Woburn Sands, Bedfordshire. Their daughter, Bessie, has not been traced on the 1911 census but of their other children, Herbert was a gamekeeper in Northamptonshire and boarding at the King's Head Inn, Syresham, Brackley; Sarah was living as a boarder with George and Minnie Driver at 52 Charles Street, Kettering, Northamptonshire, and teaching at an elementary school; Charles was living in Amphill, Bedfordshire, with his wife Edith and their daughter Florence, and Reginald was a gamekeeper on a farm at Greenham, Newbury.
At some point after 1911 Reginald moved to Nottinghamshire to work as a gamekeeper on the Duke of Portland's estate at Welbeck, near Worksop, although he later joined Nottinghamshire Constabulary as a policeman.
George and Emma later lived on High Street, Cranfield, Bedfordshire (CWGC).