Diary

Nicholas de Stacpoole

By August 20, 2003February 7th, 200913 Comments

I’d grown bored of virus questions. I’d tired of fixing the catalogue database, and plugging and unplugging network cables. I wanted a change. I wanted a challenge. I wanted to talk to a random call centre customer.
So, I answered the next call. I listened intently to his query, and politely asked him his name. “Nicholas de Stacpoole”.
Now, my surname isn’t common. Far from it. We had a book commissioned that was devoted to finding all the Stacpoole names it could. And I feel sure Nicholas de Stacpoole wasn’t on it. 20 minutes later, we were still chatting – he was a bit-part actor, had recently been on television, and was moving to Chelsea. He has three sisters, Virginia, Auriol and someone else. Here’s his particulars.
What are the chances of randomly picking up the phone and ending up talking to a distant relative I’ve never met, from a family that is sparse at best? Well, I was chuffed. Especially when it was hot on the heels of an email from another unknown relative, with EXACTLY the same first name and surname. We must be the only two in the world…
It was probably the last I’ll hear of them, of course.

13 Comments

  • Jac says:

    ooooh, he’s got your nose….

  • Wibbler says:

    Are you calling him a thief?

  • Jac says:

    no, are you?

  • erris de stacpoole says:

    what are you talking about?

  • Serena and Auriol de Stacpoole says:

    Please spell my name correctly!! AURIOL
    p.s so i’m not the only one in my immediate family to surf the net digging up long lost cousins. Will discuss with my brother, Nickolas, when we meet up next.

  • Hi Michael, this is your ‘talented??’ songwriter ‘cousin!!’ from downunder. I answered the phone a couple of years ago with ‘hello Lyle here’ and there was silence. appears the lady who rang, maiden name the marvelous Stacpoole, has a brother, yes thats right LYLE, he is Lyle Allen from further north in Oz and I am Lyle Arnold. So talking of namesakes there are two Lyle A Stacpooles here in the SAME STATE of Queensland, hope no-ones chasing him!!!! ARGHHH!!!
    PS. I got my Bachelor of Arts mate!!
    cheers
    Lyle A Stacpoole .. the one from Bribie Island
    Queensland Australia http://www.stacpoolemusic.com

  • T Stacpoole says:

    well i also have the last name Stacpoole and am forever telling people that there is no ‘k’ and there is an ‘e’ on the end. there is a small clan scattered through out mid NSW and ACT in OZ. we have the a very present recessive gene of red hair in our clan- is this common in the Stacpoole wider clan i wonder.

  • Hi T,
    I now tell everyone that OUR spelling is the ORIGINAL … except that we dropped the ‘de’ about 400 years ago, well some of us did anyway. I make people feel, well try to, that they SHOULD KNOW THIS ALREADY, great fun. Some of the reactions you get are “Oh I am sorry I didn’t know” etc. No red hair in our side of the family, the Victorian mob. My Dad met a Stacpoole from Lithgow during the war so you might be related to them hey??? Also there is a Stacpoole plays bass in a Sydney band, any relation?? My son plays bass in a band as well, very musical aren’t we all!!! his site is http://www.soulcoremusic.ws
    cheers Lyle S.(no ‘k’.. ‘e’ on the end .. LOL)

  • Daniele says:

    Dear Writer,

    Nicholas De Stacpoole is a friend of mine. We lost contact in 1999 and i have been trying to get in touch with him.
    He used to live in South Kensington and was doing some modeling and acting. His name on stage is Nick Bedford. If you have his contact could you please email it to me?
    Thank you very much.

  • Kylie Stacpoole says:

    Hi, i married a Stacpoole and we have been tracing a bit of the family tree and there are more here in oz then most realise, we are in country nsw and are runnning into more n more. yes we have musicians n writers and mining company many will be related too as only a few first migrated to oz some changed there spelling, but most are related by distance.

  • Hi Kylie,
    Many surnames got changed in the 1800’s when either immigration officials in Oz, or in our case likely other officials, misspelt the names and they were left that way. Learnt this from a friend of German extraction, named Shatte, original apparently was Schate. So there is little doubt most Stacpooles, Stackpools and other variations are all rellies. David Stacpoole, a bit of a historian, was at Dad’s funeral in September in Robinvale Victoria (he was 88) and he filled us in on a bit and confirmed this to be the case.
    Hope your search reveals more, all the best,. (no k, e on the end … LOL)

  • i want to find auriol de stacpoole, my very good friend from college in boulder, colorado

  • Well this is Autumn 2013 and I’m back in in my flat in South Kensington after a 10 year stint abroad in France and Thailand. Sorry we lost touch Daniele…your assessment was the most accurate. Auriol…how was your name spelt ? Lyle Stacpoole without the ‘de’…the little ‘de’ was added in the early 1800’s when our branch of the family sold our lands in Ireland and moved to France. Not 400 years ago ! We also were given the title of Count ( en francais Comte ) which we dropped on our return to these shores at the end of the 1800’s as it was too foreign ! We kept the papal duc bestowed by Pope Gregory VII as this is rather special ( only ones in the UK – my cousin Richard in Ireland now carries it ). I haven’t acted for a while now…Hollywood was too slow on the uptake. I married a beautiful Thai called Amorn 5 years ago and we have two daughters, Sasha and Jasmin, who are about to receive a very British education. I left the acting world to return to what I love best, making interiors look beautiful. Check out my website http://www.wallpaperhangersandtilerschelsea.co.uk. Regards, Nick

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