Old photographs of the cemetery are rare and always prove very intriguing and we don’t come across them very often. This one was sent to me several years ago by Sue and pictures her grandmother, Florence Sterry attending the grave of her husband John.
John Charles Howard Sterry, a rail carriage examiner, married Florence Nellie Hiscocks in St. Mary’s Church, Rodbourne Cheney on February 19, 1912. They were both 22 years old. Some Sterry family researchers with Ancestry online family trees record that John Charles Sterry served as a Driver in the Royal Field Artilery (RFA) during the First World War. However, a local source informs me that railwayman John was in a reserved occupation and did not go to war. The couple had three sons, Albert born 1914, William 1916 and Ronald in 1920.
At the time the 1939 List was compiled the family were at 129 Albion Street where John and Florence would remain for the rest of their lives. John died in St Margaret’s Hospital 1954 and was buried in grave plot C598. Florence died in 1957 and was buried in the same plot.
When I frst saw this photograph I was surprised at how long the grass was in the cemetery and that everywhere looked rather unkempt. This came as a surprise to me as I was under the impression that these were the years when the cemetery was still busy and where a staff (although probably small) of groundsmen were employed. If anyone has any memories (or photographs) of the cemetery in the 1950s and 60s we would love to share them here.
An extremely interestisng feature of this photograph is the glimpse of a small building in the background opposite the cemetery chapel. This building has long gone but appears on the map of the cemetery as ‘urinal’ – see below.
Radnor Street Cemetery 
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