Ferdinando de’ Medici- Seattle Neighborhoods: Fauntleroy — Thumbnail History (historylink.org)
Fauntleroy, in West Seattle, sits along Puget Sound’s Fauntleroy Cove in Seattle’s extreme southwest corner. The community faces Vashon Island and the Olympic Mountains to the west. The site was valued by Native Americans, explored by Lt. Charles Wilkes, and named by Lt. George Davidson for his future father-in-law, R. H. Fauntleroy. In 1905, pioneer John Adams acquired 300 acres there, and development began in earnest. Other key developers were John Adams, James Colman (1832-1906), and Dr. Edward Kilbourne (1856-1959). Today Fauntleroy is a small West Seattle community adjoining Lincoln Park on the waterfront. Two points of land, Point Williams to the north and Brace Point to the south form the cove where the ferry to and from Vashon Island docks.
- Ferdinando de’ Medici, Grand Prince of Tuscany (Wikipedia)
Ferdinando de’ Medici (9 August 1663 – 31 October 1713) was the eldest son of Cosimo III de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and Marguerite Louise d’Orléans. Ferdinando was heir to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, with the title Grand Prince, from his father’s accession in 1670 until his death in 1713. He is remembered today primarily as a patron of music. An excellent musician himself (sometimes called “the Orpheus of princes”), he attracted top musicians to Florence and thus made it an important musical center. Through his patronage of Bartolomeo Cristofori, Ferdinando made possible the invention of the piano.