Rowland John Aston was born on 18 May 1895 in Aston, Birmingham, the son of a builder who was also called Rowland John. His mother was Ann Mary Norton nee Bodin.By 1911 they were living in Croydon Road, Erdington. In 1922, he married
Ethel Margaret Johnson, in Tamworth; she also came from Erdington and had been born to Harry James Johnson and his wife Florence Jessica nee Smith on 17 May 1896 ; she had one sister and her father was a master jeweller in Birmingham.
It seems that Rowland and Ethel moved to Croydon early in their married life as their two sons and their daughter,
Margaret Jean, were born there. Eventually Rowland bought land in Cheylesmore, Coventry, from the Cheylesmore Island to King's Hill - what is now known as the Finham Estate. As war began in 1939 they were living at Newlands, in Finham and intended to build on the land, but during the war, he was able to build only a hostel. Rowland died on 7 September 1941, after which his widow Ethel continued to develop the estate in partnership with the contractor's foreman.
Ethel died in the third quarter of 1975. Her daughter Margaret, (usually known as Jean) who is also commemorated on this headstone, had been born in September 1925. She trained at Coventry Technical College as a shorthand typist and on a snowy day, 7 April 1947, she married Thomas Jeffrey Gait at Stoneleigh. They held their reception at the Victory Hall and the catering was done by the Craines. Jean and Jeff had a house built in Cheylesmore but moved with Jeff's work with the Midland Bank to Bewdley, where he was the bank's manager for 17 years.
Jean died on 7 August 2013.
From information kindly supplied by Jeff Gait