Mexborough & Swinton Times 29 October 1937

Obituary : Mr. Francis Robert Oliver

The funeral of Mr. Francis Robert Oliver (70), 36. Brookfield Avenue, Swinton, who died sudden y at Rotherham last Thursday, took place on Tuesday.

Mr. Oliver was taken ill in Ferham Road, Rotherham, and was found to be dead on arrival at Rotherham Hospital in an ambulance. At the funeral the coffin was draped with a Union Jack and members of the local branches of the British Legion, of which Mr. Oliver was a member, attended. A service was held in I the St. John’s Methodist Church, conducted by the Superintendent Minister, the Rev. E. Stanley Rowe, the Rev.C.W.Simmonds (resident minister), and Pastor J. A. Skelton (Mexborough).

The interment took place in the Parish Churchyard.

Mr. Oliver, who was well-known in the district, was a native of Swinton and was educated at the National School. On leaving school he worked first at Manvers Main Colliery, then at the Queen’s Foundry, and later became a signalman on the L.M.S. Railway. During this time he began to study phrenology and eventually gave up work on the railway and. travelled the country,.as a phrenologist.

During the Great War he was on the staff of the Y.M.C.A., being too old for active service. He became a herbalist and set up in business at Pendleton, Manchester. This he left in 1927, and the last ten years he spent in Swinton.

He leaves a widow and two sons, Mr. E. R. Oliver, who is staff electrician at the Royal Victoria Hotel, Sheffield, and Mr. Gordon Oliver who is science master at the Hull Technical College.

Besides being a member of the R.A.O.B., and a member of the local branch of the British Legion, Mr. Oliver was closely connected with Methodism. His association with the St. John’s Methodist Church had been a long and happy one, and as a lay preacher he became a popular figure in the local circuits. Mr. Oliver was married at Masborough on October 27th, 1894, and was buried at Swinton 43 years later almost to the day.

The cortege was headed by members of the Swinton branch of the British Legion under Mr. Bowen, and members of Swinton Old Men’s Retreat under Mr. J. Hardy. The Legion Standard was carried by Standard-bearer Mr. A. Day. Mr. E. B. Cater was at St. John’s Church organ.