Cursley One-Name Study

Cursley
One-Name Study

Topics

About the Cursley One-Name Study
Variants
Origin of the surname
Historical occurrences
Frequency of the name
Distribution of the name
Data
DNA project
Links
Contact Details

About the Cursley One-Name Study

I started studying the surname CURSLEY some 25 years ago. My father's lack of interest in family history and our surname in particular motivated me into tracing my ancestors and with the help and input of many people in the UK and abroad a substantial database is now available to those interested in the CURSLEY surname.

Variants

Variants of the name are: Cersly, Cersley, Cirsley, Coorsley, Cureley, Curseley, Cursellie, Cursely, Cursey, Cursly, Cusley, Cussley, Kearsley, Kersley and Kursley and maybe Cerselai.

Origin of the surname

The earliest reference I can find to the surname appears in 1522. The will of Robert Cooke, Chaplain, Vicary of Churcham in Gloucestershire contains a bequest, 'To the mending of the highway from Curseley's brigge forwards John Hewitts house 6s 8d ' the highway led to Curseley's farm, now Beauchamp House. Source: Hockaday abstracts Churcham 152, Gloucestershire C.R.O.

Hall and Humberstones survey of the Barony of Alnwick, 17th May 1569 Rents of the Free Burgesses within the town of Alnwick: William Curseley 7d. The heir of Curseley 11d.

Cursley families were resident in East Haddon, Moulton and Thornby, Northamptonshire in the middle to late 17th Century.

The 1841 census shows that the surname CURSLEY probably originated in and around Northamptonshire.

Historical occurrences

Benjamin Cusley 1762 - 1845

Cordwainer - Royal Marine - First Fleeter - Australian Pioneer. Link to website

Norman Sharpe Cursley 1898 -1972

Obituary, The Times, Thursday May 4th 1972 Link to website

Frequency of the name

The 1841, 1851 and 1861 U.K. Census Records can be viewed on the Guild Electronic Archive

The other Census years will follow shortly.

1841 U.K.Census *

1851 U.K.Census

1861 U.K. Census

1871 U.K. Census - To follow shortly

1881 U.K. Census

1891 U.K. Census 94

1891 U.K. Census 139

The 1881 U.K. Census lists 12 Cursly's, 6 Curseley's and 4 Cirsley's.

U.S. Federal Census: 1880 Census 1, 1900 Census 11, 1910 Census 7, 1920 Census 20, 1930 Census 22.

The 1881 Canadian Census shows 3 Cursley's.

Emigration to Australia also took place in the late 18th century with several Cursley's currently in residence.

According to an O.N.S. database there were 145 Cursley,s resident in England and Wales in 2002.

*Do not rely on one source for the census figures. For the 1841 Census Ancestry produced 25 names, a website for the town of Burton Latimer produced another 7 and finally Alan Clarke's lookup service for Northamptonshire took the total to 72! There may be more to find. The figure of 38 for the 1871 now look rather suspicious!

Distribution of the name

The 1841 census shows that the surname CURSLEY probably originated in and around Northamptonshire.

1841 Census distribution map

In the 1861 Census the most populous counties are Northamptonshire 25, Huntingdonshire 18, Yorkshire 15, Lancashire 9, Leicestershire 7 and Surrey 7. The balance being distributed throughout Cheshire, Staffordshire and Essex.

The 1881 Census shows that the most populous counties are Northamptonshire 29, Derbyshire 18, Staffordshire 10 and Leicestershire 8. The rest are distributed in a line from Lancashire to Suffolk and then westwards via London to Hampshire. 1881 Census Distribution Maps

There are Cursley's resident in the U.S.A., Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Curacao.

Several occurrences of the name can be found in Mauritius but in use only as additional forenames!

Data

A database of Civil Births, Marriages and Deaths relating to the surname Cursley extracted from the G.R.O. Indexes can be found on the The Guild of One-Name Studies electronic archive at Guild Electronic Archive

The top ten female forenames are: 1 Sarah, 2 Edith, 3 Emma, 4= Alice, Ann(e), Ethel, Florence, 8 = Charlotte, Jane and Mary. Source CURSLEY births 1837 - 2004 G.R.O. Index.

The top ten Male forenames are: 1 William, 2, Arthur, 3 George, 4 John, 5 = James,Joseph, Thomas, 8 = Charles, Francis, 10 = Andrew, Ernest, Harry and Samuel. Source CURSLEY births 1837 - 2004 G.R.O. Index.

A database of the 1841 census for England and Wales can be found on the The Guild of One-Name Studies electronic archive at Guild Electronic Archive

Other Census records have been indexed and images downloaded for the CURSLEY surname.

The following have been transferred on to my website:

The 1841 U.K. Census can be found here

The 1851 U.K. Census can be found here

The 1861 U.K. Census can be found here

I also have a seperate database of CURSLEY related material collected over a number of years and would be pleased to share it with you.