Capturing Cambridge
  • search
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
13-15 St Barnabas Road

15 St Barnabas Road

History of 15 St Barnabas Road

1913:

Sidney Smith


Alexander Wood, 1926 (Cambridgeshire Collection)

1936, Blue Book

1939:

Alexander Wood, b 1879, university lecturer and college tutor

Eleanor A, b 1877

Mary M, b 1915

?

Maud Rayner, b 1906, servant

Cllr Dr Alex Wood of the Cambridge Labour Party


1962:

Sidney Smith

Sydney Smith, MA PhD

Residents Professor Sydney Smith (1911-1988) and his sister Kate Smith.

He was zoologist at St Catherines, and an expert in rare Chinese porcelain which he gifted to the Fitzwilliam Museum and is there on the ground floor to see even now.

Miss Smith was the sister of Dr Sydney Smith, a Fellow of St Catharine’s between 1939 and 1988. Dr Smith’s obituary said of him that he was the archetypal Cambridge Don who introduced his pupils to wider aspects of life and culture beyond their subject. He couldn’t have done that without the help of his sister Kate. All Sydney’s pupils were invited to lunch, tea or dinner with him and Kate – an excellent cook – at their home in St Barnabas Road. Everyone was welcomed, included, and made to feel at home. It was over those dinners that discussions about life and culture happened. Anyone who was a pupil of Sydney’s would remember Kate equally.

1988: after the death of Sydney Smith the house was sold.

2001-2013: Judy and Adrian Reith

 

Contribute

Do you have any information about the people or places in this article? If so, then please let us know using the Contact page or by emailing capturingcambridge@museumofcambridge.org.uk.

Dear Visitor,

 

Thank you for exploring historical Cambridgeshire! We hope you enjoy your visit.

 

Did you know that we are a small, independent Museum and that we rely on donations from people like you to survive?

 

If you love Capturing Cambridge, and you are able to, we’d appreciate your support today.

 

Every donation makes a world of difference.

 

Thank you,

The Museum of Cambridge