A special rededication ceremony has been held for a First World War memorial, which has been relocated from the old Town Hall to St Albans council chamber.

Herts Advertiser: The Mayor of St Albans Cllr Frances Leonard joins members of the Royal British Legion in the council chambers to re-dedicate a war memorial which has been moved there from the Old Town Hall.The Mayor of St Albans Cllr Frances Leonard joins members of the Royal British Legion in the council chambers to re-dedicate a war memorial which has been moved there from the Old Town Hall. (Image: Archant)

On Friday July 22 the Mayor of St Albans, Cllr Frances Leonard, joined VIPs for a service where local men who lost their lives in the First World War were remembered.

They included Private Sydney John Henshaw, who was just 19 when he died in 1917 from the effects of gas poisoning, and Private John James Baker, 37, a former ploughman who died from wounds he received in 1915.

During the First World War, the Herts Advertiser ran a regular spot focusing on patriotic families who had multiple sons, nephews and cousins serving abroad. One example was Edward, Alfred, William and Walter Foster, whose parents lived in Fishpool Street.

Of the four brothers only William Foster survived. His siblings are all listed on the war memorial - known as the St Albans Roll of Honour - which was unveiled in the old Town Hall in 1920 by the then Mayor and is encased in moulded oak.

Herts Advertiser: The war memorial which has been moved to the council chambers from the Old Town Hall.The war memorial which has been moved to the council chambers from the Old Town Hall. (Image: Archant)

Work has begun on transforming the Town Hall into a new museum and art gallery, to open at the end of 2017.

Herts Advertiser: The Mayor of St Albans Cllr Frances Leonard joins members of the Royal British Legion in the council chambers to re-dedicate a war memorial which has been moved there from the Old Town Hall.The Mayor of St Albans Cllr Frances Leonard joins members of the Royal British Legion in the council chambers to re-dedicate a war memorial which has been moved there from the Old Town Hall. (Image: Archant)

Herts Advertiser: The Mayor of St Albans Cllr Frances Leonard joins members of the Royal British Legion in the council chambers to re-dedicate a war memorial which has been moved there from the Old Town Hall.The Mayor of St Albans Cllr Frances Leonard joins members of the Royal British Legion in the council chambers to re-dedicate a war memorial which has been moved there from the Old Town Hall. (Image: Archant)