Serpell One-Name Study

Serpell
One-Name Study

Topics

About the Serpell One-Name Study
Variants
Origin of the surname
Distribution of the name
Data
Links
Contact Details

About the Serpell One-Name Study

The Serpell One Name Study aims to identify all Serpells. whether living or dead across the world. The name itself is relatively rare and around 1000 individuals have been identified so far as having lived between 1570 and the present day. Apart from a couple of groups of Serpells who have not yet been linked into the main tree, every Serpell, living or dead, is descended from just one couple who married in Cornwall in 1573

Variants

There have been a number of variants of the Serpell name. These include Surple, Serple, Sirple, Surples and Serpel. It would appear that many of these variations came about due to illiteracy. In some 17th century documents the name is spelt differently on the same page. The modern spelling of Serpell seems to have settled down in the mid 18th century.

Origin of the surname

It is not clear where the Serpell name originated. It first appeared in Cornwall in the mid 16th century. Roger Serpell, who began studying the family in the 1950s believed that they may have been Huguenots fleeing from Catholic persecution in Europe. However the family appears to have been settled in Cornwall before the persecution got underway. There are similar surnames in France, Italy and Germany wlthough no link has yet been made.

Distribution of the name

Prior to the late 18th century all occurances of Serpell were in Cornwall. However the name began to spread elsewhere in the UK from this time appearing in Devon and then further afield into Lancashire and Cheshire. Serpells were part of the mass emigration from Cornwall in the mid 19th century as the mining industry collapsed. They appeared in the United Sates by the 1830s, Australia in the 1850s and Canada in the 1860s. One family went to Chile in the 1890s and their descendants still live around Santiago.

Data

The Serpell One Name study now has details of some 800 members of the family together with their spouses. Almost every single Serpell, living or dead, who has been identified to date, is descended from just one couple who married in south east Cornwall in the 16th century. There is still a group of the family, living in south Wales, who have not yet been linked to the main tree.

Links

Further information can be found at

www.serpell.org

Contact details

For further information, contact:

Mr Nick Serpell
E-mail:

This page last updated 25 February 2008.