Rodney Birks
Rodney John Birks (1944 – 2019) was born on 14th March 1944 at Stratford Hospital, London, to Elsie and Alf. He had an older brother, Geoff. He grew up in Leytonstone. After school and technical college, he got a four year apprenticeship with Ford and qualified as an engineer. He...
Roger Locke
Roger Malcolm Locke (1945 – 2018) was born in Yorkshire to Hilda and Alf. He grew up in Shelley with his sisters, Hilary and Gillian, and his brothers, John and Andrew. Not keen on school, Roger preferred hunting and later owned and trained gun-dogs. He was a keen sportsman and...
Roger Woods
Dr Roger Paul Woods (1948 – 2020) was born in Winchmore Hill, London, on 30th December 1948. He was the only child of Rose and Henry Woods. Roger completed a degree at University College London in Anthropology and Linguistics. He worked for Camden Social Services and gained a Masters in...
Ronald (Ron) Fred Herbert Muggridge
Ronald Fred Herbert Muggridge, Ron (1928 – 2024) was born in Edenbridge on the 25th January 1928 to Bill and Fanny Muggridge, a younger brother to Dennis. Ron left school at 14, working in a factory making machines and aircraft parts until the end of the Second World War. Conscripted...
Ronald Delwyn O’Dare
Ronald O’Dare (1937 – 2018) was born in Cardiff on 28 August, one of seven children. After leaving school, he worked on deep sea trawlers and then joined the Merchant Navy. Ronald loved the outdoors and enjoyed camping. He married Pauline in 1962 and they had three sons: Mark, Craig,...
Ronald Furley
Ronald Furley (1937 – 2017) was born on 23 October in Nottingham, an only child. He began working in Boots as a Trainee in the Special Labs, making prescriptions, before changing career to become a Jeweller. He specialised in clock and watch repairs and had extensive knowledge of gems. Ronald...
Ronald Wilson
Ronald Wilson (1948 – 2021) was born in the village of Shilton near Burford on 30th September 1948 to Joan and Isaac. He had two older siblings, Les and Patricia. Ron attended the village school in Hailey and then Wood Green secondary school. He married Margrit in 1968. He was...
Roy Davidson
Roy Davidson (1932 – 2017) was born on 8 April in Liverpool, the eldest of three children. He worked firstly as a cowhand after leaving school and then in a variety of factory jobs. Roy helped set up a number of sports clubs in Didcot and was a keen cyclist....
Roy Stead
Roy Stead (1941 – 2019) was born on 3rd June 1941, to Emily and Willy. He grew up in Bradley with his big sister, Kathleen, and his brothers, Leonard, Brian and Reuben. His mother died when he was still young and Roy went to live with Kathleen and her husband....
Ruth ‘Barbara’ Handley
Ruth ‘Barbara’ Handley (1930-2018) Barbara, as she was always known, was born in Oadby, Leicestershire, on 19 March 1930 to Reginald and Edith Tunnicliffe. She had one brother Reg, who predeceased her. Educated at Blackpool Collegiate School for Girls, she entered Sheffield University to read French and English, and in...
Ruth Fell
Ruth Margaret Fell (1943–2019) was born in Ton Pentre to Oliver and Margaret Jones. She had four siblings, Joan, Brian, Alan and Philip. She won a place at Pentre Grammar and could have gone to university. But instead, at sixteen she started a pre-nursing course at Llwynypia college. In 1961...
Ruth Gibson
Ruth Gibson (1929 – 2014) was born Ruth Brooks on 25 October in Biddulph Moor in North Staffordshire, the eldest of two children. She had to leave school at fourteen and went to work in Lewis’s as a clerk in the finance department. Ruth began to train as a nurse...
Sharon Berry
Sharon Louise Berry (1971 – 2019) was born to Val and Rod at Hillingdon Hospital. She grew up in Hazlemere, Buckinghamshire, where she met her lifelong friend, Michelle. At 16, she left school to start work at a local estate agent. Sharon moved to Princes Risborough at 21, where she...
Sheila Ann Sowter
Sheila Sowter (1936-2018) was born on 7 August in Derby. She was an only child after an older sibling died in infancy. After growing up in Essex, Sheila won a place at Cambridge University where she completed a degree in natural sciences. She went on to gain a mathematics degree...
Sheila Georgina Fielder
Sheila Georgina Fielder (1931 – 2024) and her twin sister Doreen were born to Violet Burston and George Barnes in Islington, London, on 7 January 1931. For six years during World War 2, Sheila and Doreen lived as evacuees with Mabel and Charlie Etheridge in Earls Colne, Essex. The twins...
Sheila Winifred Williams
Sheila Winifred Williams (1944 – 2024), was born in Halifax on 23rd March 1944, the first child of Kenneth and Teresa Critchley, followed by her brother Peter and sister Wendy. After her father died just before Sheila’s sixth birthday and after her mother had married Horace Cairns, Sheila became the eldest...
Shirley Borsberry
Shirley Joy Borsberry (1953-2018) Daughter of Joyce and Eric. Sister to Jean and Diane. Former wife to Spencer. Wife to David. Mother of David and Paul. Step mother to Vicki and Lee. Aunt to Marcus, Rachael, Adam and James. Grandmother to twins Amber and Rowan, to Myles and Taylor, and...
Shirley Simmonds
Shirley Simmonds (1936-2018) was born on 18 May 1936 and grew up in Thongsbridge. After leaving school she trained as a teacher at Goldsmith’s College, London and whilst there she developed a love of the theatre which drew her back to London many times. As well as working as a...
Sidney (Sid) Harvey Siegel
Sidney Harvey Siegel (1944 – 2024), Sid, was the son of Dorothy, and Sidney Reuban Siegel who had died in action on D-Day in June 1944, before Sid’s birth on 27 December. After his mother’s marriage to Alan Oates, Sid became the older brother to John, Peter and Sherry. After...
Simon Byles
Simon Byles (1998 – 2018) was born in May 1998, the third of four children. He began an apprenticeship training to become a mechanic and then, after he left the apprenticeship, worked at an Argos Distribution Centre. He loved music, fixing cars, and spending time with his friends and family.
Simon Hilditch
Simon John Hilditch (1957 – 2019) was born on 14th January 1957 in Oldham, Lancashire, to parents Eric and Trudi. The stand-out aspect of Simon’s personality was his quick wit and sense of humour. This was despite his diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease, which came only a year after he and...
Simon Major
Simon William Major (1946 – 2018) Son of William and Olga. Brother to Veronica. Husband to Jan. Father of Katia, Laura, Sam and Bethany. Uncle to Joanna, Tom, Sharon and Simon. Great Uncle to Georgia and Mia. Simon was born in Nottingham. He lectured in Social Studies at Walsall and...
Stephanie (Steph) Jane Rowley
Stephanie (Steph) Jane Rowley (1967 – 2021) was the youngest sister of Ray, Carol and Donna. Working for many years in banking, Steph took a part-time degree in Psychology and volunteered at Wakefield Prison. Following her Master’s Degree in Forensic Psychology Steph spent ten years in this field, initially focussing...
Stephen Burton
Stephen Robert Lloyd Burton (1956 – 2020) was born Stephen Peacock on 13 September 1956, in Kings Lynn. He lived there with his mother, Crystal, and his grandparents until he was seven. His mother married George Burton, who adopted Steve. They moved to Downham Market where Steve’s half-brother, Howard, was...
