Hanscombe History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The Anglo-Saxon name Hanscombe comes from when the family resided in the village of Hanscombe, in the county of Bedfordshire. The village name comes from an Old English personal name Han, and the Old English word camp, meaning "enclosed land."

Early Origins of the Hanscombe family

The surname Hanscombe was first found in Bedfordshire (Old English: Bedanfordscir), located in Southeast-central England, formerly part of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia, where they held a family seat from very early times.

Early History of the Hanscombe family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Hanscombe research. Another 53 words (4 lines of text) covering the years 1255 and 1634 are included under the topic Early Hanscombe History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Hanscombe Spelling Variations

Before English spelling was standardized a few hundred years ago, spelling variations of names were a common occurrence. Elements of Latin, French and other languages became incorporated into English through the Middle Ages, and name spellings changed even among the literate. The variations of the surname Hanscombe include Handscomb, Hanscomb, Hanscombe, Handscombe, Handcome, Hanscom, Handscom, Hanscome and many more.

Early Notables of the Hanscombe family

Distinguished members of the family include

Alan Hanscombe, a prominent landholder

Hanscombe migration to the United States +

A great wave of immigration to the New World was the result of the enormous political and religious disarray that struck England at that time. Families left for the New World in extremely large numbers. The long journey was the end of many immigrants and many more arrived sick and starving. Still, those who made it were rewarded with an opportunity far greater than they had known at home in England. These emigrant families went on to make significant contributions to these emerging colonies in which they settled. Some of the first North American settlers carried this name or one of its variants:

Hanscombe Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Thomas Hanscombe, who settled in Salem, Massachusetts in 1635
Richard Hanscombe, who arrived in Maryland in 1671 1

Hanscombe 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:

Hanscombe Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Mr. John Hanscombe, (b. 1853), aged 21, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Peter Denny" arriving in Port Chalmers, Dunedin, Otago, South Island, New Zealand on 26th July 1874 2

Contemporary Notables of the name Hanscombe (post 1700) +

Ken B. Hanscombe, British physician and researcher, Medical & Molecular Genetics, King's School of Medicine, King's College London
Kristine P Hanscombe, Australian barrister

Citations +

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)
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 26th March 2019). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html