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Dearsley History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables

United States Australia New Zealand West Indies

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Citations

Dearsley History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Early Origins of the Dearsley family

The surname Dearsley was first found in Cambridgeshire where they held a family seat as Lords of the Manor. After the Battle of Hastings in 1066, William, Duke of Normandy, having prevailed over King Harold, granted most of Britain to his many victorious Barons. It was not uncommon to find a Baron, or a Bishop, with 60 or more Lordships scattered throughout the country. These he gave to his sons, nephews and other junior lines of his family and they became known as under-tenants. They adopted the Norman system of surnames which identified the under-tenant with his holdings so as to distinguish him from the senior stem of the family. After many rebellious wars between his Barons, Duke William, commissioned a census of all England to determine in 1086, settling once and for all, who held which land. He called the census the Domesday Book, 1 indicating that those holders registered would hold the land until the end of time. Hence, conjecturally, the surname is descended from the tenant of the lands of Woodditton, occupied by under-tenant William de Noyers who held from the King who was recorded in the Domesday Book census of 1086.

Early History of the Dearsley family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Dearsley research. Another 77 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1273 and 1673 are included under the topic Early Dearsley History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Dearsley Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Dearsley, Dearsly, Dersle and others.

Early Notables of the Dearsley family

More information is included under the topic Early Dearsley Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Dearsley migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Dearsley Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Nicholl Dearsley, who landed in Maryland in 1673 2
Richard Dearsley, who settled in South Carolina between 1670-1681
George Dearsley, who settled in South Carolina between 1670-1692

Dearsley migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Dearsley Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. Richard Dearsley, (Murkin, George), British Convict who was convicted in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Eden" on 12th March 1842, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Island) 3
Mr. William Dearsley, English convict who was convicted in Chelmsford, Essex, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Equestrian" on 27th August 1852, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Island) 4
Elijah Dearsley, aged 19, a farm servant, who arrived in South Australia in 1852 aboard the ship "Omega" 5

Dearsley 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:

Dearsley Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Mr. William Dearsley, (b. 1825), aged 30, British labourer travelling from London aboard the ship "Grasmere" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand on 4th May 1855 6
Mr. Robert Dearsley, (b. 1830), aged 25, British labourer travelling from London aboard the ship "Grasmere" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand on 4th May 1855 6
Mrs. Emma Dearsley, (b. 1832), aged 23, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Grasmere" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand on 4th May 1855 6
Miss Hannah Amelia Dearsley, (b. 1851), aged 4, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Grasmere" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand on 4th May 1855 6
Mr. Joseph Henry Dearsley, (b. 1853), aged 2, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Grasmere" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand on 4th May 1855 6
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Dearsley migration to West Indies +

The British first settled the British West Indies around 1604. They made many attempts but failed in some to establish settlements on the Islands including Saint Lucia and Grenada. By 1627 they had managed to establish settlements on St. Kitts (St. Christopher) and Barbados, but by 1641 the Spanish had moved in and destroyed some of these including those at Providence Island. The British continued to expand the settlements including setting the First Federation in the British West Indies by 1674; some of the islands include Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and Belize then known as British Honduras. By the 1960's many of the islands became independent after the West Indies Federation which existed from 1958 to 1962 failed due to internal political conflicts. After this a number of Eastern Caribbean islands formed a free association. 7

Dearsley Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century

Richard Dearsley, who settled in Barbados in 1680

Contemporary Notables of the name Dearsley (post 1700) +

Verity Jane Dearsley, British actress

Citations +

Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
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)
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 15th December 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/eden
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 16th May 2022). https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/equestrian
South Australian Register Tuesday 3 February 1852. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) OMEGA 1852. Retrieved http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/australia/omega1852.shtml
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 17th October 2018). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies