Chris Hussey never met his grandfather, but has uncovered the story of a brave man who overcame prejudice, emigrated to Canada and fought on the Western Front.
By Gail Dixon
READER STORY A reader shares their discoveries
Photographs tell a story in themselves. If you compare pictures of Chris Hussey and Frank Herbert Stacey, the resemblance is obvious. Chris, who lives in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, and works in security, never met his maternal grandfather and has always been curious about him.
“It was my mum Jean who showed me the photograph of Frank in his First World War Canadian uniform,” Chris explains. “My inspiration in researching our family tree was to learn more about the grandfather I never knew.
“Mum was ‘Daddy’s girl’ and yet she didn’t speak much about her father. She did tell me that he was a caring man, who suffered from breathing difficulties.”
Chris’ main clue was Frank’s wartime service record, so in 2012 he began searching the website of the national archive, Library and Archives Canada (library-archives.canada.ca/eng). Not all of his service records had been digitised at that time, but Chris discovered the first two pages of Frank’s enlistment papers.
“These revealed that Frank was born in 1894 and that his mother’s name was Caroline Stacey. I showed these to Mum, who added nothing to the information given.”
After Jean died in 2014, Chris spent years trying to trace Frank’s footsteps before something remarkable happened. In August 2020, his dad asked if there was anything he wanted to salvage from his mother’s possessions before he had a clear-out.
HIDDEN TREASURE
“I said to myself, ‘Is it worth it? I was only there a month ago.’ However, I decided to go anyway and noticed a small, worn leather case hidden under some boxes. I opened it and found a bag inside. I couldn’t believe my eyes. There was a Canadian shoulder title inside that could be the one Frank was wearing in the photograph.
“Arriving home, ecstatic with my find, I delved into the bag and found two more Canadian shoulder titles and brass buttons from a uniform. There were several more badges including one for the 123rd Royal Grenadiers, a maple-leaf badge with ‘The 29th’ on it, and a silver war badge.
“I reached in again and found his two ID tags stamped ‘Pte. Stacey FH, 766710, 123 C.E.F.’. These belonged to the grandfather that I never knew. It was like an Indiana Jones moment.”
