Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
To Autumn by John Keats
It is the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness and time for a virtual walk among the memorials at Radnor Street Cemetery. I shall don my raincoat and carry an umbrella as the weather forecast is not good, but you can put on the kettle, make a cup of tea and join me from the comfort of your electronic device. Meet me at the Kent Road gate.
We begin with an incomer to Swindon and a gravestone in a precarious condition. As you can see there is a crack beginning to creep around the edge. Invariably, when this happens the whole surface of the stone shears off when all record of that person is lost. Sadly, there are a number that have so suffered when you look around the cemetery.
This is the last resting place of Jane Martinelli who died in 1893 aged 65. From the brief details on the gravestone I wondered if Jane and Thomas might be Italian however, further research has revealed that Jane was born in Worcester, and this is about all that can be discovered about her. The Martinelli story, on the other hand, is one of fluctuating fortunes.
In the 1891 census Jane is living with husband Thomas at 13 John Street, Swindon. Thomas worked as a Railway Coach Builder and states his place of birth as St. Pancras, London. He was baptised at Trinity Church on December 26, 1831, the son of Louis Martinelli, also a coach maker.
Thomas was descended from an Italian family famous for making barometers and thermometers and was the grandson of Aloysious Louis Martinelli born in Como, Italy sometime between 1761-1771. By 1799 he was living in London where he married Abigail Marshall at St. Anne’s Church, Soho. He died in the Lambeth Workhouse in 1845 aged 84.
Returning to Swindon and Jane’s story. The Martinelli’s didn’t have any surviving children and tracking them through the Victorian census returns reveal they lived in Manchester and Birmingham before arriving in Swindon.
Thomas married again in 1894, the year after Jane’s death. When he died in 1905 he was buried here with Jane. Regrettably, his name was not added to the headstone.
Well, the predicted downpour has ensued and I feel a chill in my bones. Time to be heading home, I think. Join me again tomorrow. Same time, same place?
Radnor Street Cemetery 