Chislett History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Chislett is a name of ancient Anglo-Saxon origin and comes from the family once having lived in the parish of Chislett, which is located seven miles from Canterbury in the county of Kent. The surname Chislett belongs to the large category of Anglo-Saxon habitation names, which are derived from pre-existing names for towns, villages, parishes, or farmsteads.

Early Origins of the Chislett family

The surname Chislett was first found in Kent where they held a family seat from very ancient times, some say well before the Norman Conquest and the arrival of Duke William at Hastings in 1066 A.D.

Early History of the Chislett family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Chislett research. Another 84 words (6 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Chislett History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Chislett Spelling Variations

Sound was what guided spelling in the essentially pre-literate Middle Ages, so one person's name was often recorded under several variations during a single lifetime. Also, before the advent of the printing press and the first dictionaries, the English language was not standardized. Therefore, spelling variations were common, even among the names of the most literate people. Known variations of the Chislett family name include Chislett, Chislette, Chislet and others.

Early Notables of the Chislett family

Notables of this surname at this time include:

George Chislett of Chislett in Kent

Chislett Ranking

In Newfoundland, Canada, the name Chislett is the 500^th most popular surname with an estimated 94 people with that name. 1

Chislett migration to the United States +

For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, Canada, the America colonies, and many of smaller tropical colonies in the hope of finding better lives abroad. Although the passage on the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving, those families that survived the trip often went on to make valuable contributions to those new societies to which they arrived. Early immigrants bearing the Chislett surname or a spelling variation of the name include:

Chislett Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

George Chislett who settled in Philadelphia in 1856
James Chislett, aged 27, who landed in New York in 1862 2
Mary Chislett, aged 25, who arrived in New York in 1862 2
William Chislett, aged 17, who landed in New York in 1862 2

Chislett migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Chislett Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

George Chislett, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Morning Star" in 1861

Contemporary Notables of the name Chislett (post 1700) +

Anne Chislett (b. 1942), Newfoundland-born, Canadian writer from St. John's, Newfoundland, winner of the 1983 Governor General's Award for Drama
Michael Guy Chislett (b. 1982), Australian born musician
Laura Chislett, Australian flute player

Historic Events for the Chislett family +

SS Caribou

Mr. Harold M. Chislett, Newfoundland passenger from Rose Blanche, Newfoundland and Labrador was travelling aboard the railway ferry "SS Caribou" when it was struck by a German submarine torpedo on 14th October 1942, the most significant sinking in Canadian waters at that time, he died in the sinking

Citations +

The order of Common Surnames in 1955 in Newfoundland retrieved on 20th October 2021 (retrieved from Family Names of the Island of Newfoundland by E.R. Seary corrected edition ISBN 0-7735-1782-0)
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)