The Staceys of Kent
The surname Stacey is widespread in the south-east of England. As far as one can tell this branch appears to have come from around the small villages of Horne and Nutfield in Surrey.
William, borne in Nutfield in 1793 married Eleanor Streatfield in Eynsford, Kent and then they moved a number of times back and forth between Surrey and Kent ending up at Twitton in Kent. The resons for the moves are not recorded but it does seem that agricultural workers moved with their farmers when the farmer moved to take up another tenancy. This is recorded for other family members around this time (early 1800's).
His son, Richard, b 1820 in Shoreham, Kent; became a ploughman and won prizes for it, he too, moved regularly from farm to farm eventually settling at Chelsfield. His youngest son, John, b 1854, started work at the age of 10 carting water for the farm where his father worked and then prgressing to looking after the horses on the farmbefore becoming a gardener at Broke Lodge in Chelsfield. From there he moved to Streatham as a gardener in a nursery in Brixton and, by 1881, as a gardener for Mr John Lomas in Norfolk House, Streatham after his marriage to Mary Wansbury. His diary of the time records the weather and the work involved including what was planted and harvested.
Sometime between then and 1891 he became self-employed by starting up a greengrocers shop in Mitcham Lane, Streatham.