Rowland PARKER 1879 -1932 Swansea -> FoD (General)

by peteressex , Sunday, November 20, 2011, 09:40 (4748 days ago) @ slowhands

Thank you both. There are thus several viable possibilities for the relevant Roland or Rowland Parker although none yet points to a family connection.

Again with regard to the accuracy of the Lydney Observer report, I've noticed that for relatives with my grandmother's maiden name, Sterrey, the name was thus correctly spelt by the paper, which is more than a lot of people ever achieved. The long-standing surname spelt as Sterry was and is more frequent in Forest parts, and therefore tends to be written that way unless "Sterrey" is spelt out. This is some indication, although by no means conclusive, that the paper got "Roland" right too.

But nothing would surprise me. I see that the Parker buried at Coleford was a railwayman. My grandfather ended up as a senior Metropolitan Police officer but not before he'd worked as a storeman on the Severn & Wye Railway from 1904 to 1912. Two of his Sterrey brothers-in-law were also railwaymen who served at Lydney Junction, Newnham and Lydney Docks, whilst a third brother-in-law married the daughters (one at a time) of Fred Lott who was a guard on the Severn & Wye way back when regular passenger trains ran into the Forest. My great-grandfather Henry Sterrey carried out carpentry for the Severn & Wye, whilst his wife's family of Pritchard ran the Lydney Coal Company who had their own wagons on the line. So I'm ready to suspect that any Parker with a railway pedigree could be related!