Hals History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The surname Hals was first found in Devon and Cornwall.

"The manor of Laneseley, [in the parish of Gulval, Cornwall] from which the parish derived its name, belonged at a very early period to the family of De Als, who are said to have taken their name from a manor called Alsa or Als, in the parish of Buryan. In 1266 Simon De Als gave this manor to the priory of St. Germans, for the health and salvation of his soul, that of his wife, and those of his ancestors and relations. It was a bargain with the prior and his canonical brethren, for the eternal happiness of the whole family. From this period until the dissolution, the prior and his successors claimed this manor, and with it the ecclesiastical income of the rectory, throughout the parish. But at the time of the Reformation, this property being seized by the crown, the manor was granted to Beaumont and Barry, from whom it passed to the family of Tripcony about the year 1565. By a descendant of this family it was mortgaged to Sir William Hals, of Fentongollan, who was lineally descended from De Alsa, its ancient possessor, and who was ancestor of Hals the historian. In this family it became the subject of much litigation and trouble, in consequence of some mortgages and sales, that led to a suit in chancery; after which it was purchased by the Onslow family, in whom it is still vested." 1

Early rolls revealed: Alfris Halls c. 1100; Robert Hals in the Pipe Rolls for Devon in 1182 and then later as a Knights Templar in Lincolnshire in 1185. 2

In Somerset, the following were found listed 1 Edward III (during the first year of King Edward III's reign): Richard atte Halse; John de Halse; and John de Halse. 3

"Halse was the name of an eminent family of Kenedon in Sherford parish, near Kingsbridge, during the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries; to this family belonged a Justice of the Common Pleas and a Bishop of Lichfield, both of whom lived in the reign of Henry VI. Matthew Halse was a churchwarden of Littleham, Exmouth, in 1730, and the name still occurs in the town. Halse is a Somerset parish, and an old Taunton family bore the name in the 16th century." 4

"Kennedon, in the [parish of Stokenham, Devon], in the fifteenth century became a seat of the family of Hals. Here lived John Hals, Justice of the Common Pleas in 1423, and here was born his son, of the same name, who, in 1450, was made Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry." 5