Uncle Bernard is the 4th child of Lavinio and Letitia, and their third son. He is brother to your great great grandfather Claud. As Claud is getting married in the summer of 1915 , his two younger brothers Maurice and Bernard are enlisting into WW1. This is interesting to think a bit more about. The Setacci family in a a couple of generations have gone from being the family of an exiled Italian cabinet maker to now fighting for the British Army.
As mentioned in Maurice’s post, the two brothers enlist in the Royal Engineers Special Reserve Motor Cyclist Section as shown below. As mentioned in our post on his brother Maurice, Bernard passed the motorcycle skills test, but his motorcycle was deemed unusable for the war. He is accepted however into the Special Reserve Motor Cyclist Section on the strength of his motorcyclist skills. He would be provided with a motorcycle once he arrived in Bletchley for training.
The brothers are to report to the Royal Engineers Signal Services Rest Camp at Bletchley. ( note Bletchley becomes famous in WW2 for breaking code) And, given they were approved for this Section, they were automatically promoted to Corporals immediately upon enlistment.
Bernard is just turning 21. He has been working as a Bank Clerk at the Post Office . ( interesting as this was where his new sister-in-law also worked, could it have been through this connection that Martha Greer Mills met his brother Claud?) It is the end of August – the 26th to be exact – when he signs his papers. Had Bernard and Maurice been waiting for the big wedding of Claud and Martha to be over with before they enlisted? We believe so.
Let me introduce you to your Uncle Bernard. Maybe you have some of his Stacey/Setacci attributes?
Bernard stands 5 foot 9 3/4 inches tall, and has a mole on his upper right arm and another one the on the outer side of his left knee. Too much information – maybe – but this is probably important – so the army can identify him when ………. ?
And, as shown above, both brothers give their mother Letitia as the name of their next of kin. So we know who would get the call if……..
Like his brother Maurice, Bernard is initially in training at Dunstable England before being transferred to the theatre of war in France in October 1915. We aren’t told much more until he is demobilized into Class Z in July 1919. On June 17, 1919 while in Le Havre France he signs a form attesting to the fact that he has not suffered any disabilities as a result of his time at the War. If those dates are correct then Corporal Stacey spent a long period of time in France. And he is a very lucky very brave soldier.
He is awarded the 1914 -15 Star for service and participation in a theatre of war, a British War Medal , and a Victory Medal.
He is not listed with his family at home in Wimbledon or anywhere else in the 1921 UK Census. Was he still in France at the time the census was taken, or had he travelled elsewhere?
Bernard marries Irene May Rhodes in 1931 at age 36. Irene May is only 20. Irene comes from a good family as her Dad is a Physician and a Surgeon. The wedding is in Benhilton All Saints Parish Church south of London.
Bernard continues his career in the Banking industry. Bernard and Irene have two children. A daughter Gillian ( Canadian cousin Judith Dixon remembers meeting Gillian briefly on a trip to London when she was a teenager – the two cousins were the same age) And a son who I won’t identify here as he is still living. ( though you can see his name on the tombstone below!)
Again we have cousins from this family, most likely living in England.
Irene May passes in 1952 at the very young age of 42. Uncle Bernard passes in 1966 at the age of 71. Both are listed as passing away in Worthing on the South Coast of England between Eastbourne and Portsmouth. Irene is buried in the Rustington Cemetery not far from Worthing. This is the only example I have of a Stacey tombstone. ( there must be others we don’t know about)
