My ggg.grandfather was a Sicilian fisherman who was captured by the British in circa 1812 or 1813 and sent to England. From England he was sent to NSW Australia as a Convict on board the ship 'Earl Spencer' which arrived on NSW shores on the 9.10.1813. He was born circa 1782 as STEPHANO POWSEITCH (?) in Palermo, Sicily. When he arrived in NSW his name was listed as STEFANO POWSEITCH and his name was immediately changed to STEFANO HASKITT - Sometimes spelt HASKETT. We assume the name change happened because of his strong Sicilian accent (if he could speak much english at all) and it is possible that a partially illiterate person was writing his name in the first place. I have been informed by a Neapolitan Italian that Stefano's name could have been PAUSICCIO, which would sound like "Powsich" or similar to an english speaking person. Stefano married MARY STANTON on 27.3.1820 at Sydney NSW and once married he changed his name to JOHN STANTON. Mary Stanton (aka Mary Reilly) was an Irish convict sent from Britian to Australia and we assume she met Stefano at sometime when they were both convicts in the Sydney penal colony. Stephano/Stefano/John died on the 29.8.1861 at Thornleigh, Sydney, NSW. Mary died 17.8.1830 at Castle Hill, Sydney, NSW. We have very good detail from Stefano and Mary's marriage to now and we would be glad to share. Can anyone tell me how would we begin to start looking for Stefanos birth and parentage in Sicily? How can we find how his name was spelt before he left England? We would dearly love to track down Stefano's ancestry. Any information or help of any type will be greately appreciated by all of us. Sandra Stanton and my 72 year old mother Fay Stanton from the East Coast of NSW.