Virtutis Amore
(From the love of valour)
Ansley Family Homepage
including variant spellings (more than 250) (Annesley, Ainsley, Ainslie, Aynsley, Anslee, Angley, Angsley, Anglesey, Anesly, Anesley, Antley, Ensley, Endsley, etc.)
Welcome to the Ansley Family Homepage
We purport to represent ANSLEYs everywhere, including all the variant spellings listed above. We welcome your interest in surnames that are listed on this homepage. The information that you find here is for PERSONAL use only. It is NOT to be SOLD or re-submitted to libraries or other genealogical entities (including one-name surname servers). We certainly encourage the SHARING of information here with your cousins, for their PERSONAL use, and we ask you, in return, to share YOUR information about these families. You will surely be given credit for information that you share. These surname links take you to descendancy files which contain limited information that, hopefully, will arouse your curiosity to request more information (more generations, notes, sources) from the author about specific families. GEDCOMs can be exchanged. This page will be "under construction" as long as new data flows in to the author, so please SHARE your ANSLEY information with us.
BEGINNINGS: The ANNESLEY (original spelling) surname began in a small village about 10 miles NW of the city of Nottingham in the English county of Nottingham. The village ANNESLEY was named for a Celtic chieftain named "Anna" who owned a meadow ("lea" in old English); thus, "Anna's -lea". Levinot was the last SAXON Lord to hold the village of Annesley. As a reward for their part in the Battle of Hastings in 1066, one Norman family led by Ralph Fitz-Hubert (who served under the Duke of Maine) was given the village and surrounding lands. Indeed, he acquired several villages/lands in NOTTS. Ralpe Brito de Annesley managed the property at ANNESLEY for Ralph Fitz-Hubert. It has been reported that Ralpe Brito had traveled to England with Fitz-Hubert, who had accompanied William the Conqueror, in the Battle of Hastings. Eventually, this family took the name de Annesley, which was further anglicized to ANNESLEY. Over time, a fine English manor house was built ... called ANNESLEY HALL. This property served as the seat of the Annesley family from about 1068 until about 1442 when Alice de Annesley married Sir George Chaworth (from another old Norman family). Thus, the Chaworths occupied the property until about 1805 when Mary Ann Chaworth married John "Jack" Musters and the family took on the name Chaworth-Musters (Mary Ann brought considerable wealth into the marriage). Descendants of this family occupied the Hall until 1974 when Major Robert P. Chaworth-Musters moved one mile west to Felley Priory (built by Rallpe Brito de Annesley in 1156). Annesley Hall and the surrounding acreage have been sold several times without any significant change in the use of the property (attended only by a caretaker). More recently, a pending sale would renew the manor house and stables and build a resort hotel and championship golf course. This outcome remains in doubt. Indeed, in September 1997, a portion of the house BURNED. I'm told that the present owner replaced the slate roof with a composition one, NOT in keeping with the remainder of the roofline. Immediately adjacent to the manor house is Old Annesley Church with graveyard. It is now owned and protected by a local historical society. NEW Annesley Church (All-Saints) is located about a mile NE and it was built in 1874. Many artifacts from the old church are now displayed in "new" Annesley church, including an 11th century Norman font. No Annesley family members are known to reside in this area today. When the female heir married the Chaworth, male descendants moved to other parts of the Kingdom. Eventually, Francis Annesley moved to County Armagh in Northern Ireland and gained considerable prestige and wealth. He became Sir Francis Annesley. This family gained several peerages including Earl of Annesley and Earl of Anglesey. The former is an Irish peerage (lowest rank in the system with England first, Scotland second, Ireland third). Castlewellan, in County Down, was built by a descendant of Sir Francis, mentioned above. Descendants maintain a significant presence in County Cork (and other part of Ireland and Northern Ireland) in the present day. Another village named ANSLEY lies in Warwickshire, being named for Princess Ann ("Ann's Lea"), so the story goes. This village also pre-existed the Norman Conquest. No known Ansley families live in this area today if ever they did. Ainslie Castle can be found in Scotland but any connection to the ANNESLEY family is unknown.
NORTH AMERICAN PRESENCE:
There are at least seven distinctly separate (on North American side of the Atlantic) Ansley families in the USA and Canada today. Ansley seems to be the preferred spelling, although all the above variants can be found in North America. Some of these family groups have identified their immigrant ancestor, but not all. The known groups are:
| ANSLEYS IN USA & CANADA |
| Earliest Known Ancestor | NA Locations | Time Frame |
|---|---|---|
| Mathew Ansley | New England | mid 1600's |
| Solomon Ansley -ENSLEYs -AINSLEYs |
Tyrrell Co NC Jackson Co NC |
early-mid 1700's to present |
| William Ansley | Monmouth Co NJ> St. Paul's Par GA> Warren Co GA |
1735 to present |
| John Gilbert Ansley | Johnstown NY> Sussex Co NJ> Geneva NY |
1752-60 to present |
| John Ansley | CT>PA>NY | ~1760 to present |
| William Ansley | Baltimore MD> Fleming Co KY> Logan Co OH |
~1800 to present |
| Julius Nelson Ansley | Parry Sound, Ontario | 1825-30 to present |
| Thomas Ansley | Gloucestershire> Lucas Co IA> New Zealand |
mid 1800's to present |
| Unconnected Ansley family groups | USA/Canada/other |
If you have ANSLEY connections, please contact Bill Ansley (bansley@charter.net)). There exists an ANSLEY FAMILY ASSOCIATION whose sole purpose is to promote the family and to hold annual reunions where we enjoy meeting cousins, exchanging information, attending educational seminars that relate to family history and genealogy and performing original skits that tell our story. Won't you join us? We hold an annual ANSLEY reunion, usually in Thomson, GA (35 miles west of Augusta, GA). Contact the author bansley@charter.net)for more details. We also publish a family newsletter where we share family news and genealogy. We are a strictly VOLUNTEER organization that has been meeting for 28 years (2005).
bansley@charter.net This page was last revised December 29, 2005.
Copyrighted in 1997 through 2006.
Some favorite Ansley-related photographs
-Castlewellan Castle in County Down,Northern Ireland, built in 1856 by William Annesley
-another view of Castlewellan Castle 
-Annesley Hall, from top, front
and rear views 
=Felley Priory, given to the Church of
England by first Annesleys to occupy ANNESLEY HALL, Annesley, NOTTS, Enland
-West Point Mill on Eno
River in Durham, NC, owned by William Ansley (of Orange Co NC) about 1780-1800
-Ansley H. Fox invented
the air-cooled engine (long before Proche) ... he's a descendant of William of New Jersey (thru William
Ansley of Orange Co NC). He also was the inventor of the famous line of A.H. Fox shotguns. Photo courtsey of Tom Kidd 
-
The ROCK HOUSE, built by Thomas Ansley by 1785 in Wrightsborough Twp, St. Paul's Parish, Colony of Georgia
On the National Register of Historic Places; said to be the oldest house in GA, with its original floor plan intact.
Located in McDuffie Co GA.
1810 Wrightsborough Church (3rd building ... first two built by the Quakers)... located in McDuffie Co, GA
Organ currently in Wrightsborough Church in McDuffie Co, GA
Some of my favorite Genealogy links
Alyson Jackson's AINSLEY website
Wrightsborough, Saint Paul's Parish, Georgia, township (circa 1767-1810)
U.S. Census Bureau - Genealogy Page
Karen Ansley Krugman's Homepage
South Carolina USGenWeb Homepage
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