Martha Greer Mills, your great great grandmother, was born in 1890 in Londonderry, Northern Ireland. She was named after her Grandmother Martha Grier of Ramelton. Her father John Mills was a baker. Her mother was Elizabeth Sproule. Martha has 5 siblings , two brothers and three sisters. Interestingly she is listed on this 1901 Irish Census as Martie.
The family live in the heart of Londonderry at 34 Great James St, not far from the River Foyle.
Martha and her sister Elizabeth (Bessie) come to London England as young women. We don’t know when exactly, but by 1911 the two sisters are both living in the Kensington area of London. Martha is 21 and Elizabeth is 18. They share accommodations with a dozen other young people, mostly young women like themselves at 57 Lexham Gardens.
Martha Greer Mills and sister Elizabeth are both working at the Post Office Savings Bank. Yes, the Post Office at that time leveraged their locations to provide banking services. This may sound bizarre to you – doing your banking at the post office, but it was actually common in many countries for the post office to also provide banking services. Anyway, judging by the article below, it sounds like they needed a lot of clerks !
So let’s take a minute to step back and take a look at the women in your Setacci family tree and think about their significance. We start with Lucy Iles who at a an extremely young age ventures from her home in Thornbury to the big city of London to become a domestic servant at age 13 ! Then we have Letitia Ward, an only child losing her father at a young age, but persevering as her mother remarries. And now we have Martha Greer Mills who comes with her sister as a very young woman from Ireland to find work as a bank clerk in London. Three stories of young strong independent adventurous woman courageously making their way in the big city and the big world. Each of from whom you are descended. (similarly, in another part of your family tree , the Ross sisters – Deborah and Isabel – also courageously travel by themselves from Ireland to Canada at young ages in 1913 in search of new lives in London Ontario. And it is Deborah, your great great grandmother who marries Robert Dixon in Canada.)
Meanwhile Claud Setacci, your great great grandfather, and first son of Lavinio, is following in the footsteps of his Uncle Attilio. Attilio is a dental surgeon practicing out of his home on Home Park Road just outside the gates of the famous Wimbledon – All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. And Claud, your great great grandfather , at age 22 is working and living with his Uncle and training to become a dentist.
Somehow Claud Setacci and Martha Greer Mills cross paths in London. Who knows how? Was Martha a patient at Uncle Atillio’s dental practice one day? Did Claud run into Martha Greer at a Post Office Savings Bank? Claud’s brother Bernard was also working as a clerk at the Post Office Savings bank. Did he somehow introduce the couple to each other? It is fun to guess how your great great grandparents met in London , but we really don’t know. (unless there is someone reading this who knows the true story )
We do know that on the Fourteenth of August 1915 there is a wedding at the Wimbledon Presbyterian Church on Mansell Road a short ten minute walk from the Setacci family home at 51 Alexandra Road.
Yes , Claud Stacey and Martha Greer Mills are married at the Presbyterian Church shown above. Note that the church is still going strong as Trinity United Reform Church , but back in 1915 it apparently had a very strong Scottish congregation. By the time of Claud and Martha’s wedding the congregation had sadly already lost a few men to World War One. The Church sponsored a Soldiers Hall that supported over one thousand soldiers stationed at Wimbledon Commons.
We see above that the Bride and Groom are each 26 years old. Martha was living at 15a Vicarage Gate , just off the Kensington High Street. Lavinio and Leticia ( or Letty for short) , the parents of the groom, act as witnesses, as does the bride’s father – Master Baker and Confectioner John S Mills of Londonderry.
And what is very exciting is that for the first time in this family web journal we have a real-life photo of the event provided by one of their grand daughters! One simple photo, but what a story it tells. It is a beautiful summer day on August 14th , 1915 in Wimbledon. It is, as you can see by the many smiling faces. a joyous, happy family occasion. World War 1 however is looming very much in the background.
Who are the people in the photo? We assume the groom and bride are sitting in the forefront, but after that it is anyone’s guess. The next row is mostly women. I assume bridesmaids and friends of Martha Greer’s – maybe her sister Elizabeth just to the left behind Claud? Maybe Claud’s sister , your great great Aunt Gertrude directly behind him? Is Martha’s mother Elizabeth directly behind the bride? And who could the lady with the frizzy white hair to the far right be? Could it actually be Claud’s grandmother? The 78 year old Lucy Iles Setacci? It would sure make sense! And the women to the left with the wide brimmed hat ? Claud’s mother Letitia? Or his Aunt Helene Nachmann Stacey ? We can only surmise. Or hope someone reading this can make accurate identifications! The men are at the back. We assume the two fathers Lavinio and John are there somewhere, as are Uncles Atillio and Adriano.
And most importantly, we assume Claud’s brothers Bernard and Maurice are there as well. Why is this so important to us? Because in ten days from now Bernard and Maurice will enlist in the British Army for World War One. Does everyone know this? Maybe not, maybe the two brothers haven’t told their parents yet, not wanting to spoil this very special occasion. But I think Claud knows. Despite everyone else smiling he has a slightly stern demeanor. Maybe that was just his personality, but I think it was more than that. I think Claud knows very well what his two younger brother are about to do, and is very concerned. Will this be the last family photo with everyone alive and happy and well ? ( keep reading to find out more about Maurice and Bernard)
Soon after the wedding Claud and Martha Greer purchase the home below at 16 Augustus Drive in Wimbledon.
This home, which still exists, will act as both the family home and Claud’s dental office.
Shortly after the marriage – their first daughter Mildred arrives in 1917 in the midst of WW1. Yes she arrives during one World War and, as we will see, she marries in the midst of a second World War 24 years later.
A second daughter – Pauline arrives in 1920
And a third and final daughter – Olive in 1922
Below shows the 1921 Census for 16 Augustus Road.
It indicates that Claud is a dental surgeon and that his place of work is his Wimbledon home.
It also shows that daughter Mildred is just over 4 years old, and daughter Pauline is just over a year old. Olive has yet to arrive. The family also employs May Alcock to help with the kids and around the house.
The family resides here at Augustus Road Wimbledon for close to 25 years – until about 1940. Then , with the daughters now young women, and a second World War looming they move further south of the City, or at least have another home there. This moving south of London in retirement is a Setacci family pattern.
The 1938 Electoral Register has them at Sprole Cottage , Broad Lane , Surrey in the parish of Newdigate south of Dorking. Note the name “Sprole” Cottage. Why this name? Is it just a coincidence that Sproule was the maiden name of Martha Greer Mills’ mother. We don’t think so.
I found the below on the internet referring to Sprole Cottage in Newdigate, Dorking. Unfortunately the links for the historical society either don’t work or are password protected. Oh no – another trip to England might be required to investigate whether Sprole or Sproule Cottage still exists.
The 1939 England and Wales Register shows the Staceys near Godstone , not far from Dorking. Daughter Mildred’s wedding in 1941 however takes place in Newcastle on Tyne, and at that time, from what I can tell, Claud and Martha are living at Wilson Gardens in Newcastle on Tyne. One wonders if this home home in Northern England was a temporary refuge from the WW2 bombing of London.
Finally, later in the 1950s, the family is found at 26 Sondes Place Road in Dorking and remaining their until 1961 and probably beyond.
I mentioned earlier that daughter Mildred arrives in WW1 and marries in WW2. We will do a more detailed post on Mildred and sisters Pauline and Olive in the future once we have some more family photos to share. Here we will just mention that on June 2 ,1941 at All Saints Church in Newcastle on Tyne that Mildred Stacey is married to a Sargent in the Canadian Royal Army Service Corps. His name is William James Dixon of London, Ontario, Canada.
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Trip – 1954
In 1954 Claud and Martha take a trip to North America. They are both in their mid 60s at the time. We don’t know if this was their only trip to North America or not, but this one is well documented in a couple of shipping lists .
They travel first on the ship the Nova Scotian. They depart from Liverpool on May 19, 1954 and arrive in Boston 12 days later on May 31, 1954. Boston however is not their destination. No, they are headed to Pawtucket Rhode Island. Why Pawtucket? Well, guess who moved to the USA in the mid 1920s? Remember the very young sister who came to London from Londonderry with Martha Greer? Yes Martha Greer’s younger adventurous sister Elizabeth! Bessie (Elizabeth) is now living in Pawtucket at 52 Oswald Street, and her married name is name is Elizabeth Mills Kinnell. One must think this would have been quite the joyous reunion. How long had it been since the two sisters had seen each other? (and BTW this means you probably have cousins in the Pawtucket area !)
And, not only that, Bessie’s son Galway Mills Kinnel becomes a well known Pulitzer Prize winning poet. Again, I encourage your to Google your great grandmother Mildred’s first cousin Galway Mills Kinnel. (your first cousin a few times removed0 I think you will be impressed. Or order one of his books of poetry. I love this poem of his.
After their stay in Pawtucket, did Claud and Martha travel on to Canada to visit their daughter Mildred and family in Hamilton Ontario ? I have to think they would have. And I am hoping someone reading this has photos, or at minimum memories of this visit by their grandparents that we can post here!
It turns out Judi Dixon does remember this trip of her grandparents to Canada. She was ten years old at the time. She remembers her parents building a cabin at their summer home in Oliphant, Ontario on the Bruce Peninsula. The extra space was needed because her grandparents were coming all the way from England for a visit. Her parents jokingly named the small cabin they were building “Sproule Cottage” because that was the name of their home back in Surrey England. ( again, Sproule was the maiden name of Judi’s great grandmother Elizabeth Mills)
Claude and Martha arrive back in Liverpool at the end of September 1954 on the Empress of Scotland , either sailing out of Montreal or Quebec City.
Visitor from Canada – 1959
In 1959 Martha and Claud drive down to the South of England. I am assuming they drove down, but they may have taken the train. Or it is possible they didn’t drive down to Southampton at all. It could be their visitor took the train up to London.. The visitor is Martha Greer Mill’s older brother John Sproule Mills. Martha Greer Mills ( or as her brother called her “Martie” ) and her family, despite all leaving Londonderry at relatively young ages for different parts of the world, must have kept in close touch over the years. Yes the visitor is your great great Uncle John Sproule Mills of Saskatoon. John Sproule Mills arrives in Southampton from Montreal on the Saxonia of the Cunard Steam Ship Line on May 29, 1959.
As you can see above , he gives the Stacey’s in Dorking Surrey at his intended destination. And he intends to stay for ten weeks! I can’t tell for sure whether John Sproule brought his wife Ethel or not . There only seems to be one person listed on the passenger list. The Stacey’s and the John Sproule family remained close over the years. Judi Dixon tell us that her mother Mildred did go to visit her Mills cousins in Saskatoon, and that the daughter of John Sproule Mills would visit Olive Stacey’s daughter in London.
John Sproule, after living in various parts of Canada and the U.S. settled in Saskatoon Canada as had his brother Alexander. John Sproule was a school principal for many years and played a prominent role in the city of Saskatoon. He was the Mayor of Saskatoon for a number of years up to 1953. One wonders if the Stacey’s might have visited the Mills family in Saskatoon on their trip to Canada in 1954. You can read a bio below that can be found in the footnotes of his John Sproule Mills’ Wikipedia page. It is from a City of Saskatoon publication honoring its mayors.
And note below how Mrs Martie Stacey is named in his obituary in 1972.
We believe Claud Stacey passes in February 1971 while residing at the Bryn Nursing Home Upper Killay Swansea. ( to be confirmed- this might make sense as would be near his daughter Pauline I think)
Martha Greer Mills Stacey passes away later in the 1980s.( to be confirmed)
I would love to be able to post here their obituaries once we find them.
I have not been able to find a cemetery in which either Claud or Martha Greer rest. If anyone is aware of one, please let us know.
