Show ContentsAnselbay History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Early Origins of the Anselbay family

The surname Anselbay was first found in the East Riding of Yorkshire at Anlaby, a township, partly in the parish of Hessle, but chiefly in that of Kirk-Ella, county of the town of Hull, union of Sculcoates. "This place was anciently a possession of a family of the same name, and in 1100 a great part of the estate passed, by intermarriage with its heiress, into the family of Legard." 1

Early History of the Anselbay family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Anselbay research. Another 130 words (9 lines of text) covering the years 1394, 1415, 1420, 1455, 1487, 1510, 1552, 1567, 1571, 1574, 1597 and 1600 are included under the topic Early Anselbay History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Anselbay 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 Anselbay family name include Anelby, Anlaby, Hanlaby, Annlaby, Hannlaby, Anlabie, Anelbie, Hanelbie, Anselby, Ansallby, Ansalby, Hansalby and many more.

Early Notables of the Anselbay family

Distinguished members of the family include William Anlaby (1552?-1597), English Catholic missioner, a native of Etton in Yorkshire. He "matriculated in the university of Cambridge as a pensioner of St. John's College, 12 Nov. 1567, and proceeded to the degree of B.A. in 1571. He had been brought up in the protestant...
Another 52 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Anselbay Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Anselbay family

For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, the Canadas, 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 Anselbay surname or a spelling variation of the name include : the name represented in many forms and recorded from the mid 17th century in the great migration from Europe. Migrants settled in the eastern seaboard from Newfoundland, to Maine, to Virginia, the Carolinas, and to the islands..



  1. Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.


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