More about the Staceys

I was eager to post my first page yesterday so now need to tell you more about the Staceys.  John's father Aaron worked as a woodman and John followed in his footsteps.  Not quite sure what this entailed but I think they must have managed an area of woodland.  Maybe they coppiced trees and perhaps were responsible for fencing.  The area they lived in was in the vicinity of Wentworth - Woodhouse which was a very large house and  Park not far from Rotherham.  I like to think they worked on the estate but have no evidence to substantiate this.
I read a very interesting book, Black Diamonds, by Catherine Bailey, which was about the history of the Wentworth -Fitzwilliam family who owned the estate, and apparently most of the household records were deliberately destroyed on a bonfire in 1972.

This is another photo of  John and Mary. I don't know when it was taken. The photos I have of them were sent to me by another of their descendants who I met via the Internet whilst doing my research.

I have found records of John and Mary having eight children but according the the 1911 census they also had one who died in infancy.  The eldest, Kelita, was born in 1862 and he also became a woodman like his father and grandfather.

They then had a run of daughters.  Ann in 1865, Kate in 1867 and next my great grandmother Everil who was born in 1869.  Next came Elizabeth born in 1871 and then Mary in 1873.  Two boys followed, John in 1875 and finally George in 1882.  Maybe the long gap between John and George was the time when they had and lost their 9th child.


By the time of the 1891 census John and Mary had settled in the village of Ravenfield not far from Rotherham. They lived in a cottage on School Lane next to the schoolhouse. The photograph at the top of my blog shows them standing outside the cottage with four of their children. I think these are, from left to right, John, Elizabeth, George and Mary.

I will tell you more about Ravenfield and some of their children later.