Gosnold arms are
generally variations on this coat:
"per
pale crenellee,
or and azure"
Family lore maintains that the first Gosnell was Arnold, a
knight of
Lanfranc. Lanfranc was an Italian priest and advisor to William the
Conqueror,
who became the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1070, from which position of
power he dispensed land to his knights, including, supposedly, our
Arnold
who was given the house of a Saxon named Gosa. This house was in Ash,
Kent.
In any event, a Ranulph de Gosenhale is found in 1230 living in
Goss
Hall in Kent and for several generations therafter the family is
associated
with the estate although most references spell the name as "de
Gosehale".
In 1404 we find a sailor named John Gosnale in Kent, which shows how
the
surname began evolving into its modern form.
There are early references to the Gosnell surname in four other
counties:
Suffolk, Shropshire, Yorkshire and Cambridgeshire although only those
in
Suffolk and Shropshire have been traced through to the modern era. We
have
only a single reference to a Gamel Gosenoll in Yorkshire in 1219 and to
a Robert Gosenol in Cambridgeshire in 1275.
In Shropshire, the earliest reference is in the Hundred Rolls
of
Condover
(1275) which mention a Roger Gosenhul. In 1339 we find a reference in
Shrewsbury
to a Richard de Gosenhull. It is interesting to note that this is the
earlier
form of the name, including the territorial "de". In the 1400s, a
Roland
Gosenhul was sent to run the priory at Much Wenlock. The Shropshire
Gosnells
have a coat of arms that is very similar to that of the Suffolk
Gosnells
- identifying them as sure relatives, but the Shropshire arms are
simpler
and presumed to be the earlier. The arms are described as "per pale
arg.
& az. (Wood)" and "per pale arg. & sa. (Wood)". Edward Gosnell
who was the mayor of Shrewsbury in 1682 bore the arms "per pale
indented
or & az." The earliest mentions of Gosnells in Shropshire parish
registers
is of a Robert Gosenell, who baptised five children in Bridgnorth
between
1557 and 1571 and a Henry Gosnell who married Ursulowe Bromley in
Condover
in 1586, and Gosnells can be traced in the county until the present
day.
It was in Suffolk, however, that the Gosnells became the most
established
and indications have been found of a Gosnell presence in north-east
Suffolk
as early as the mid-12th century. In a compilation entitled "Pleas
Before
the King and His Justices, 1198-1212" Volume IV, a record is found
concerning a dispute between Stephen de Freton and "William, son of
Adam"
concerning a "plea of land". The book records essoigns made by
de
Freton. This
essoign is an excuse for not appearing in court on
a set day, and is presented to the court by an essoigner. Three
essoigns
are found concerning de Freton's case, one made by "David Gosinal"
(#3137),
one by David "filius Daniellis" (#3988) and one by David "Parvus"
(#3966).
Parvus means "the Young one". It seems very likely that these all refer
to the same person, the differing references being fairly common in
that
era. This leads us to conclude that David Gosinal, the son of Daniel
lived
in Freton (Freton is now called Fritton, a village in Lothingland
Hundred
in northeast Suffolk). Other essoigns involving David Parvus as
early as 1199 date Daniel to the mid-1100's.
In 1228, the Curia Rolls record a Henry de Gosenhal' as a
resident of
northeast Suffolk and the Potuli Hundredorum (Hundred Rolls) of
Suffolk in 1275 contains a William Gosenol holding land in Lowestoft
jointly
with a Henry Molend. In the Hundred Rolls we also find an Alan de
Gosenhale
and his son Henry who hold land at Sotterley. The son, Henry, is said
to
have been the clerk of the bailiff of Wangford Hundred, John de
Gatesden
and is noted to have a daughter named Theophania. Another reference at
Sotterley is found in 1327, in the Subsidy Lists of Suffolk, which
mention
a William de Gosenhale in Sotterley, as well as a John Gosenol in
Chediston
in Blything Hundred. Two more early references have been found; an
Agnes
de Gosenhale holds properties in Ringsfield in Wangford Hundred in 1346
and in 1390 a Simon Gosnoll is found in Huntingfield, in Blything
Hundred.
From this point on, references to the Suffolk Gosnells in
English documents
occur in the areas of Clopton and Otley, about 8 miles north of
Ipswich.
The will of a Thomas Gosenell of Clopton, dated 20 December 1464, was
probated
on 9 February 1465. This mentions his wife, Isabell, and his son
William.
The man at the head of the known Suffolk pedigree, however, was a John
Gosnold who was living at Otley Hall in 1430 according to E. Farrer in
his Old Suffolk Houses vol 6. This John owned property both in
Otley
and in Clopton. His son, also John, is referred to in 1491 as "John
Gosenoll
fil. John Gosenoll de Ottley" (he is the holder of the sinecure office
of Steward at Framsden, to the north of Otley). The arms of these
Gosnolds
is the same as that of the Shropshire Gosnells except that they are
quartered
with those of the Person family (quartered with argent, a fleur-de-lis
sable charged with three bezants) indicating that a Person heiress
married
into the Gosnold family near this time. A full list of the descendents
of John Gosnold has been traced in the research of Warner F. Gookin,
published
in Ancestry of Bartholomew Gosnold, New England Historic
Genealogical
Register vol 105 pp5-22 and J. Henry Lee in Genealogical Gleanings
Among the English Archives, New England Historic Genealogical Register
vol 56 pp 402.
Otley Hall
photo by Chris Gosnell
The family built themselves up through a
series of advantageous marriages
into a noble family based in Otley
Hall.
Two of the most notable were that of a Robert Gosnold to Ursula
Naunton,
and their son John Gosnold to Winifred Windsor. Through the Nauntons,
the
Gosnolds were connected to the de Veres (Earls of Oxford), the
Wingfields and
the Berties (Lords of Willoughby). Winifred Windsor was the sister of
Edward, Lord Windsor. This was the heyday of the family and lasted
until the
Civil War in the 17th century when the alliance with the Royalist cause
undid
the family and eventually they sold Otley Hall.
The most famed Gosnold in this period was Bartholomew,
an early adventurer to the New World, landing at Cape Cod in 1602, some
twenty years before the Pilgrims (and responsible for its prosaic name,
as well as that of the more playful Martha's Vineyard, after his
daughter),
and one of the founders of the first permanent colonial settlement in
Jamestown,
Virginia where he died.
Henry Gosnold's contribution
was more
family oriented. A lawyer, Henry emigrated to Ireland in 1596 where he
became the Chief Justice of Munster and raised a large family. This
family
of Gosnell spread throughout County Cork, with a large grouping at
Skibbereen.
It is from these Irish Gosnells that a large group of Gosnell emigrants
made their way to the Americas, mostly by way of Canada, in the 19th
century.
However, most of the Gosnells in the
United
States, especially those with links to the Southeast, trace their
ancestry
back to a William Gosnell. He was born about 1640 and was probably the
William brought from England to Lower Norfolk Co, VA in 1666 and then
into
Maryland a few later by Cornelius Howard of Anne Arundel County.
William
died in 1709 in Anne Arundel Co, MD and had three sons from whom
descend
many branches of the Gosnell families. An uncommon variant of the name,
Gostnell, developed in the United States at the time of the Civil War.
Sources:
Much of this material is taken from a manuscript prepared by Don
Carney,
the
Carney Genealogy which has not, to my knowledge, been published.
I have also used some material from a pamphlet entitled "The House
of
Gosnell" written by the late Mae Barrett, and a brochure "Through
the
Fragrant Years, A History of the house of Gosnell 1677-1947", produced
by John Gosnell & Co. Ltd. Chris Bailey assisted me with the
American
lineages.
I welcome any criticisms, additions or subtractions. Contact me
at chris@ocotilloroad.com
First name index for Gosnells:
This index includes the surnames:
GOSENELL
GOSENOLL
GOSNEL
GOSNELD
GOSNELL
GOSNOLD
GOSTNELL
The families are located in
Canada
England
Ireland
United States
Australia
In England and Wales, the number of Gosnells recorded in the
censuses are:
1841: 110
1861: 76
1871: 123
1881: 163
1891: 164
1901: 217
In the 1880 censuses, there were 146 Gosnells in Canada and 1221
Gosnells in the United States.
If you have any comments, additions or modifications to the information on this page, please feel free to email me.
Created and maintained by:chris@ocotilloroad.com
