| ![Show Contents]() Dansey History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms
Etymology of DanseyWhat does the name Dansey mean? Dansey is a name that was brought to England by the ancestors of the Dansey family when they migrated to the region after the Norman Conquest in 1066. The Dansey family lived in Wiltshire. The family was originally from Anizy, in Calvados, Normandy, and it is from this location that their surname derives. The name would have stood as D'Anizy, which means from Anizy. 1 Early Origins of the Dansey familyThe surname Dansey was first found in Wiltshire where Richard de Dauntesye was one of the first records of the name as listed in the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273. The same rolls listed Peter de Dauntesy in Berkshire. 2 West Lavington in Wiltshire "was for many generations the property of the Dauntsey family, of whom William Dauntsey, a younger son, was alderman of London in 1542." 3 He would later found and endow an almshouse, and a grammar school there. The church contains the sepulchral chapel of the Dauntsey family. Through marriage the property passed to the Danvers family. Early History of the Dansey familyThis web page shows only a small excerpt of our Dansey research. Another 156 words (11 lines of text) covering the years 1242, 1348, 1349, 1542, 1632, 1660 and 1663 are included under the topic Early Dansey History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Dansey Spelling VariationsNorman surnames are characterized by a multitude of spelling variations. The frequent changes in surnames are largely due to the fact that the Old and Middle English languages lacked definite spelling rules. The introduction of Norman French to England, as well as the official court languages of Latin and French, also had pronounced influences on the spelling of surnames. Since medieval scribes and church officials recorded names as they sounded, rather than adhering to any specific spelling rules, it was common to find the same individual referred to with different spellings. The name has been spelled Dancey, Dauncy, Dauncey, Dauntsey, Dance, Dancie, Dauncie, Dauntsie and many more. Early Notables of the Dansey family Migration of the Dansey family to IrelandSome of the Dansey family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt. More information about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
| Dansey migration to the United States | + |
Many English families emigrated to North American colonies in order to escape the political chaos in Britain at this time. Unfortunately, many English families made the trip to the New World under extremely harsh conditions. Overcrowding on the ships caused the majority of the immigrants to arrive diseased, famished, and destitute from the long journey across the stormy Atlantic. Despite these hardships, many of the families prospered and went on to make invaluable contributions to the development of the cultures of the United States and Canada. Early North American immigration records have revealed a number of people bearing the name Dansey or a variant listed above:
Dansey Settlers in United States in the 17th Century- John Dansey, who landed in Maryland in 1677 4
Dansey Settlers in United States in the 19th Century- J Dansey, who arrived in San Francisco, California in 1851 4
| Dansey 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: Dansey Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century- Mr. E. Charles Dansey, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Sebastian" arriving in Port Chalmers, Dunedin, Otago, South Island, New Zealand on 7th October 1859 5
- Mr. Arthur Dansey, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Sebastian" arriving in Port Chalmers, Dunedin, Otago, South Island, New Zealand on 7th October 1859 5
| Contemporary Notables of the name Dansey (post 1700) | + |
- William Dansey (1792-1856), English Canon of Salisbury, born at Blandford, Dorsetshire, son of John Dansey 6
- William Heywood Dansey, New Zealand lessee who held the Otekaike run from 1857 to 1871, eponym of Danseys Pass
- William Dansey, British soldier with the 33rd Regiment of foote who captured the Dansey Flag (1777), the flag used by a Delaware militia in the early years of the Revolutionary War; he returned to England with the flag which remained in the family until 1927 when it was auctioned off to the Delaware Historical Society
- Harry Dansey (1920-1979), New Zealand Maori journalist, cartoonist, writer, and broadcaster
- Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Claude Edward Marjoribanks Dansey (1876-1947), aka Colonel Z, Haywood, Uncle Claude, codenamed Z, the Assistant Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service, commonly known as MI6
- Hugo Dansey Butler (1914-1968), Canadian-born screenwriter working in Hollywood who was blacklisted by the film studios in the 1950s
- Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
- Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
- Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
- 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
- Wikisource contributors. "Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900." Wikisource . Wikisource , 4 Jun. 2018. Web. 30 June 2020
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