It is 2024 as I write this. I have been recovering from my first ever bout of Covid. Yes, after three years, it finally caught up with me. I decided to put my recovery time to good use by sharing here all the interesting things I have found out about Sandra’s Setacci/Stacey family roots in London England.
It is fascinating when your family history intertwines with world history. When your great’s lives intersect with global events, famous places and famous people. And, when it comes to the Setacci family, this is certainly the case. From the unification of Italy, to the creation of a class of international work men, to careers in the British Civil Service in the Admiralty at Whitehall , to two brothers riding motorcycle despatch in WW1, to careers in dentistry in the neighbourhood of Wimbledon, home of the world famous All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club – the Setacci/Stacey family history has all this and more. ( I am not even mentioning a Mayor of Saskatoon and a Pulitzer Prize winning poet)
Now if you don’t know much about this family you might be wondering: why two names? Why Setacci ? Why Stacey? It might even confuse you at times, as in one sentence I refer to someone as Setacci , and then in the very next sentence turn around and refer to that very same person as Stacey. The original Setacci name is used by the family in UK censuses for 40 years – from 1860 to 1900. Then from 1910 onwards the Setacci name disappears and is replaced by Stacey. Why then? I believe it was probably because the Setacci family had reached a level of success that demanded them taking a more distinguished, “British sounding” name in order to be fully accepted into a higher class of British Society. It is also probable that the death of Cristoforo Setacci in 1904 played a role in the timing of the name change. One wonders: how does a family decide to change its name? Is there a family meeting? And who decides what name the family should take ? Was Stacey simply the obvious choice? And, is it possible that someday someone in the Stacey family will reclaim the original Setacci name in honour their 5th Great Grandfather Cristoforo and his Italian roots?
This website is written with the 7th Generation of English Setacci/Stacey’s in mind. That includes my daughters Maggie and Kate and their cousins Ben, Jacob, Graham, Kingston and Everett. For their generation Claud the Dentist is their great great Grandfather, Lavinio the Admiralty Civil Servant is their triple great grand father, and Cristoforo Setacci the cabinet maker and much much more is their quadruple great grandfather.
What I have done here is based on research and documents.. I have then tried to create stories around those documents. Yes, as the author I get to create the family history. But, if I have something drastically wrong, please correct me! It would be great if we could make these stories more personal. To do that we need to add your stories, photos, and mementos. If you have any of these please share them with me either via email or by making a comment on the site itself.
To read the Setacci to Stacey story simply use the Setacci Stacey Menu at the top of this web page. We start with Cristoforo and Lucy as generation one, then move to Lavinio and Letitia in gen two, and end, for now, with Claud and Martha Greer in gen three. Enjoy.