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On Ancestry.com I found a reference that may be to my 4th great grandfather John Stacy (also discussed in Could John Stacy who lived/married at London and later lived at Exmouth (Devon) have been baptized in 1759 at North Petherton (Somerset)?), referring to Musgrave's Obituaries.

Finding the entry in Musgrave's Obituaries Prior to 1800, vol 5, John Stacye has been recorded as:

Stacye, John, tea-dealer, Gracechurch Str. 3 April 1790. (E.M.319; G.M. 375)

Does anyone know how to interpret such an entry, and in particular does it seem to be a reference to an obituary for John Stacye (in which case it is not my 4th great grandfather, but possibly his father/grandfather)? I'm hoping that (E.M. 319; G.M. 375.) may lead to more details about him recorded elsewhere.

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PolyGeo
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  • Can you just clarify - when you say "interpret such an entry" are you looking for an explanation of "EM 319, GM 375"? Thanks. – user3310902 Jul 10 '15 at 00:03
  • @user3310902 I think so, or any advice on what this entry is saying, that may be useful for me to establish the identity of the Jno Stacye mentioned - he has the same occupation as my ancestor of the same name in 1830, so I think there may be a connection. – PolyGeo Jul 10 '15 at 00:05
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    It seems EM stands for "The European Magazine and London Review " and GM stands for "Gentleman's Magazine". Musgrave is an index so you would need to try to find the relevant entries in the magazines to see how much information was given. – user3310902 Jul 10 '15 at 00:21
  • @user3310902 I've found the GM 375 entry now but it adds little other than a mention of Camberwell (perhaps where he died or was buried): https://books.google.com.au/books?id=gkMDAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA375&lpg=PA375&dq=stacye+tea+dealer&source=bl&ots=lmotxzND4l&sig=ENUVYlxatp6AaBIkuzKqibJSrqE&hl=en&sa=X&ei=RBKfVeaTFsHWmAWE8IGAAQ&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=stacye%20tea%20dealer&f=false – PolyGeo Jul 10 '15 at 00:34
  • Behind a paywall at www.newspapers.com/newspage/34423322/ there's an entry for the Public Advertiser digitised "On Saturday laft ,died at Camberwell, Mr. John Stacye, an] eminent tea-dealer, oT Gracechj^rch-ilreet." So it might be worth checking more newspapers. – user3310902 Jul 10 '15 at 00:43
  • London Gazette, 7 March 1786: The copartnership between George Joyce and John Stacye, of Fleet-street, and of Silver-street, Fleet-street, London, Tea-dealers, being by mutual Consent this Day dissolved; all Debts due to, or owing by the said Partnership will be settled by George Joyce, who continues to carry on the Business; as witness our Hands this 6th Day of March, 1786. Geo. Joyce. John Stacye. – user3310902 Jul 10 '15 at 01:01
  • @user3310902 Many thanks - if you would like to write up a quick answer with no need for anything more than what you have in your comments I will be happy to accept it. At the moment I don't have a newspaper subscription but I am thinking that a good search of London, Exmouth and North Petherton newspapers will be the next step in my search for John Stacy's origins. – PolyGeo Jul 10 '15 at 02:13
  • Ancestry.com often has a 50% off deal for Newspapers.com and Fold3.com for current Ancestry subscribers. It's useful to sign up for the newsletter at any big vendor (whether you subscribe or not) because you get on the mailing list for deals. – Jan Murphy Jul 10 '15 at 02:32
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    I have updated the question to include the actual text and link to the original text, rather than a shoddy OCR transcription. I also removed the duplicate reference to Ancestry.com which didn't really add anything to the question. – Harry V. Jul 11 '15 at 07:05

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It seems EM stands for "The European Magazine and London Review " and GM stands for "Gentleman's Magazine". Musgrave is an index so you would need to try to find the relevant entries in the magazines to see how much information was given.

The GM 375 entry adds little other than a mention of Camberwell: https://books.google.com.au/books?id=gkMDAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA375&lpg=PA375&dq=stacye+tea+dealer&source=bl&ots=lmotxzND4l&sig=ENUVYlxatp6AaBIkuzKqibJSrqE&hl=en&sa=X&ei=RBKfVeaTFsHWmAWE8IGAAQ&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=stacye%20tea%20dealer&f=false

Behind a paywall at www.newspapers.com/newspage/34423322/ there's an entry for the Public Advertiser digitised "On Saturday laft ,died at Camberwell, Mr. John Stacye, an] eminent tea-dealer, oT Gracechj^rch-ilreet." So it might be worth checking more newspapers.

Also in the London Gazette, 7 March 1786: The copartnership between George Joyce and John Stacye, of Fleet-street, and of Silver-street, Fleet-street, London, Tea-dealers, being by mutual Consent this Day dissolved; all Debts due to, or owing by the said Partnership will be settled by George Joyce, who continues to carry on the Business; as witness our Hands this 6th Day of March, 1786. Geo. Joyce. John Stacye.

user3310902
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While you already have an answer to this question, it could be useful to describe a method to arrive at that answer.

Look in the introduction of the book for an explanation of abbreviations. Almost all books that systematically use abbreviations will include an explanation (usually at the beginning of the book, but sometimes at the end).

In Musgrave's case, if you turn to the third page of this book, you will find a section titled "An Alphabetical List of Abbreviations Used in this Work". Under this section are entries for the abbreviations in question:

E.M. or Eur. Mag.
The European Magazine and London Review; containing Portraits, Views, Biography, Anecdotes, Literature, History, Politics, Arts, Manner, and Amusements of the Age, from 1782 onwards. 1784, etc.

and

G.M.
Gentleman's Magazine. From the commencement in 1731 and onwards. 8vo. London.

Harry V.
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