Hassall History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Early Origins and Etymology of Hassall

The surname Hassall was first found in Cheshire at Hassall, a village and civil parish in the Borough of Cheshire East which dates back to at least the Domesday Book where it was listed as Etshale as land held by William Malbank. At that time it was part of the Middlewich Hundred and was land enough for two ploughs. 1 2

The place name literally means "the witch's nook of land" derived from the Old English haegtesse + halh. By the 13th century, the place name had evolved to be spelt Hatishale. 3

Hassall Hall is a former manor house to the east of the village and dates from the 17th century. It was upgraded in the 19th century and has since been divided into two houses. Today, the buildings are designated by the English Heritage as a Grade II listed buildings. Hassall Green is a village in the civil parish of Betchton, near Hassall.

"The ancient family of Hassall or Hassell possessed the lordship of the manor of the name as far back as the reign of Edward II.; in later times a branch has established itself in Nantwich." 4

The first record of the family was found in Oxfordshire in the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273, John de Hassett. It was not until 1299 when we find a Cheshire entry, that of Henry de Hasshal, there in 1299. 5

Early History of the Hassall family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Hassall research. Another 145 words (10 lines of text) covering the years 1045, 1510, 1600, 1627, 1644, 1650, 1655, 1667, 1680, 1690, 1701 and 1710 are included under the topic Early Hassall History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Hassall Spelling Variations

Anglo-Norman names tend to be marked by an enormous number of spelling variations. This is largely due to the fact that Old and Middle English lacked any spelling rules when Norman French was introduced in the 11th century. The languages of the English courts at that time were French and Latin. These various languages mixed quite freely in the evolving social milieu. The final element of this mix is that medieval scribes spelled words according to their sounds rather than any definite rules, so a name was often spelled in as many different ways as the number of documents it appeared in. The name was spelled Hassall, Hassel, Hassell, Hasell, Hasel, Hassal, Hassul and many more.

Early Notables of the Hassall family

Edward Hassall or Halsall (fl. 1667), English Royalist, born about 1627, probably a member of an old family seated at Halsall, near Ormskirk, Lancashire. "He fought in the defence of Lathom House in 1...
His brother, James Hassall (fl. 1667), also styled a major, arrived at Antwerp in February 1655, and gave Ormonde much information about affairs in England. At the end of the year he was concerned in...

Hassall migration to the United States +

Because of the political and religious discontent in England, families began to migrate abroad in enormous numbers. Faced with persecution and starvation at home, the open frontiers and generally less oppressive social environment of the New World seemed tantalizing indeed to many English people. The trip was difficult, and not all made it unscathed, but many of those who did get to Canada and the United States made important contributions to the young nations in which they settled. Some of the first North American settlers with Hassall name or one of its variants:

Hassall Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

William Hassall, who settled in Virginia in 1653
John Hassall who settled in Virginia in 1653
Jon Hassall, who landed in Virginia in 1653 7

Hassall Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

James Hassall, who arrived in America in 1808 7
James Hassall, who was recorded as a British Alien in the United States during the War of 1812
Annette Hassall, aged 39, who settled in America, in 1895

Hassall Settlers in United States in the 20th Century

Albert Hassall, aged 40, who immigrated to the United States, in 1905
John Hassall, aged 18, who settled in America from Dosthell, Tamworth, in 1906
John Hassall, aged 34, who immigrated to the United States from London, in 1906
Frank Hassall, aged 22, who landed in America from Nottingham, England, in 1911
Gertrude Hassall, aged 25, who immigrated to the United States from Crewe, England, in 1911
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Hassall migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia included the Second Fleet of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Second Fleet

Mr. William Hassall, British settler convicted in Stafford, Staffordshire, England in 1790, sentenced to 7 years for stealing, transported aboard the ship "Matilda" leaving in 1790 arriving in New South Wales, Australia in 1791 6

Following the Second Fleet, other convicts and early settlers arriving in Australia include:

Hassall Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Miss Sarah Hassall, (1761 - 1825), aged 56, British house keeper who was convicted in Lancaster, England for 14 years for possessing a forged note, transported aboard the "Friendship" on 1st May 1817, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 8
Mr. John Hassall, British Convict who was convicted in Warwick, Warwickshire, England for life, transported aboard the "Caledonia" on 5th July 1820, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 9
Mr. James Hassall, English convict who was convicted in Stafford, Staffordshire, England for life, transported aboard the "Champion" on 24th May 1827, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 10
Mr. Thomas Hassall, British convict who was convicted in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Bussorah Merchant" on 1st October 1829, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 11
Mr. John Hassall who was convicted in Coventry, England for 14 years, transported aboard the "Camden" on 21st March 1831, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 12
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Contemporary Notables of the name Hassall (post 1700) +

William R. Hassall, American Democratic Party politician, Postmaster at Follansbee, West Virginia, 1933-34 13
Charles "Charlie" Hassall (b. 1863), English footballer
Thomas Henry Hassall (1840-1920), English-born, Australian politician elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly in 1886
John Hassall (1868-1948), English illustrator, father of Christopher and Joan Hassell, member of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours and the Royal Society of Miniature Painters (1901)
Joan Hassall OBE (1906-1988), English wood engraver and book illustrator, the first lady Master of the Art Workers Guild (1972)
Christopher Vernon Hassall (1912-1963), English actor, dramatist, librettist, lyricist and poet, recipient of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize (1959)
Harold William Hassall (b. 1929), English former professional footballer from Bolton
John Cory Hassall (b. 1981), English musician and bassist for The Libertines
Sir Ian Bruce Hassall KNZM (1941-2021), New Zealand paediatrician and children's advocate, New Zealand's first Commissioner for Children from 1989 to 1994
... (Another 7 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Sources +

Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
Guppy, Henry Brougham, Homes of Family Names in Great Britain. 1890. Print.
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Convict Records of Australia. Retrieved 4th February 2021 from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships
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 24th October 2022). https://convictrecords.com.au
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 25th November 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/caledonia
Convict Records of Australia. Retreived 18th January 2021 from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/champion
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 10th November 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/bussorah-merchant
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 2nd December 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/camden
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2016, April 1) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html