Kelsall Genealogy
A Web Page for all those interested in genealogy
related to the family name
I have registered the KELSALL name with the Guild of One-Name Studies. As such I have agreed to collect and compile
information from all sources and to respond to all reasonable enquiries
regarding the name.
Contact Information
This site is maintained by Peter Kelsall.
I will welcome your comments or additions. Please e-mail me at:
kelsall@qwest.net or
visit my Guestbook
Last revised: October 1, 2007
Favorite Links
For general information on the
For historical information for the village of
Kelsall visit the Kelsall Village site and Don Dickson’s site
For reproductions of several articles of
historical interest visit the site maintained by David Kelsall
For a forum of messages seeking information on
Kelsall ancestors see The Kelsall Family Genealogy Forum
Origins
of the Kelsall Name
The Kelsall name most obviously derives from the
village of the same name in Cheshire. According to the Dictionary of
Surnames (Hanks & Hodges) the name derives from “Kell’s nook or
recess”.
As related in Barthomley.: In
Letters From A Rector To His Eldest Son published in 1856 by The
Rev. Hinchcliffe and Notes on the Family of Kelsall published by John Kelsall in 1916, the
village is mentioned in the Domesday Book (1086) and the name Adam de Kelsall
appears as early as 1277. William Kelsall was Sheriff of Chester in 1335 and
Stephen de Kelsall was Mayor of Chester in 1350. (Much later, John Kelsall was
Mayor of Chester in 1768 and his name appears on the Eastgate Arch below the
famous clock, said to be the most photographed clock in the world after Big
Ben. This John Kelsall is said to belong to the Kelsalls of Dodleston or
Kinnerton.)
According to Lyson’s Magna Britannia
(1810), the ancient branch of the Kelsall family from Tarvin (presumably
the
Bardsley records the name Reginald de Keleshalle
from 1273 in Cambridge and Johannes Kelesall from 1379 in Yorkshire. Reaney
records Kelsale from 13th C Suffolk and
Kelshall from 13th C Hertfordshire, both said to be “surviving as Kelsall”.
Distribution
of Kelsall Families
Present-day
Population
From telephone directory
entries I estimate that there about 5000 people in the world with the name
Kelsall. As shown in this table almost 70% are in the UK.
Country Estimated Population Percentage 3200 68 600 13 600 13 150 3 150 3 20 .4 Other 10 .2 Total 4730 100 The
numbers for the (=763 x 58,000,000/14,000,000). Interestingly,
almost the same answer is obtained
by taking the proportion of Kelsalls in the total population in the 1881
census times the present population. The
numbers for the
.
Over half of all Kelsall
households in the U.K. are in three counties, Staffordshire, Lancashire and
Cheshire. In the
If you have any information to
add to these numbers please e-mail me at kelsall@qwest.net.
1881
British Census
The total population of
Kelsall individuals in the 1881 British census was 1585. This includes 1515
Kelsall, 36 Kellsall, 19 Kelsal, 13 Kelsell and 2 Kelsale. Six individuals were
in Scotland, the remainder in England & Wales. The most populous counties
were as follows:
Summary 605 38.2% 38.2% Staffordshire 433 27.3% 65.5% 280 17.7% 83.2% 43 2.7% 85.9% 36 2.3% 88.1% Nottinghamshire 32 2.0% 90.2% Warwickshire 25 1.6% 91.7% Derbyshire 20 1.3% 93.0% 18 1.1% 94.1% Flintshire 17 1.1% 95.2% 17 1.1% 96.3% 8 0.5% 96.8% Cambridgeshire 6 0.4% 97.2% Hampshire 6 0.4% 97.5% 5 0.3%