Rubuta ci gaba ga wannan sakin layi - Mahaifinsa shi ne Kwamandan John Tracey William Faransanci, RN, na Ripple Vale a Kent (an haife shi 1808, ya mutu 1854), wanda ya yi yaƙi a Navarino
kuma a karkashin Napier a cikin goyon bayan Dom Pedro a cikin Portuguese Civil War. Mahaifiyarsa ita ce Margaret Eccles, daga Glasgow, wanda bayan da ya sha wahala bayan mutuwar mijinta ya kasance a ƙarshe ya kasance a matsayin wanda aka gane shi a matsayin mahaukaci. Ta mutu a shekara ta 1867 ta bar Faransanci don 'yan uwanta mata su haife shi. Ya yi karatu a makarantar shirya Harrow da Eastman's Royal Naval Academy a Portsmouth kafin ya shiga Royal Navy a 1866.