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My thanks to Arlee Gowan for the Hussey family overview information, which provides background information to the origin of the Hissey line .
I spent many days / weeks travelling in England to research the Hissey lineage descendents from John Hyssie, and my personal line is on the page |
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The name HISSEY is a derivative from HUSSEY, which is of Norman origin, (earlier Danes, and prior to that, Scandinavians, who had invaded northern France settling there, adapted to French language and customs) and possibly from the family Houssaye of France. |
According to Stapleton's "Rotulli Scaccarii Normanniae," Osbert de Hozu, who was living in England in 1180, was so named for le Hozu, a fief in the parish of Grand Quevilly near Rouen, France. Adella Whitney Olney, a genealogist of Niland, California, suggests that the name may be derived from Heusse in the department of La Manche, France. In an old account of the Hussey family, the name is said to have been Touasi de Hosa. German and French versions render it as de Hoese and de Hosey. In early medieval England the name Hussey was usually spelled Hose. In the Latin form it was Hosatus. During the thirteenth century it tended to evolve into Hoese, later to Huse and Husee and ultimately to Hussey. |
The
Husseys'
living in England and lreland are reputed to descend from Hubert Hussey who came over from Normandy with William the
Conqueror. He is thought to have married Helen, the illegitimate daughter of William's uncle Richard Ill, 5th Duke of Normandy. Hussey families were associated with various manors in Berkshire in the time of Edward I, but were mainly in Kent, Dorset, Shropshire and Ireland. |
If Hissey is a corruption of Hussey, then perhaps this Hussey Coat of Arms is to do with our earlier ancestors. The colour Ermine (a fur) in the coat of arms of the family Hussey symbolizes Royalty. It also reflects the hopes, ambitions and aspirations of its original bearer. |
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In 136I a Henry Hussey inherited an interest in Standon Manor which is in the Hundred of Kintbury and Eagle and was near the town of Hungerford on the Wiltshire/Berkshire border (only a few miles from Buttermere where Charles Hissey lived at Buttermere before he left for South Australia.) |
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Interestingly enough, Alfred Hissey, one of Charles Hissey's brothers had a farm at North Standen in the mid 1880's, and his grandson Maurice Henry Hissey who was from North Standen, was a Captain in the 2nd Battalion Royal Berkshire Regiment, fell at the Battle of the Somme, October 26th, 19I6, aged 32 years. |
By the mid 1500's when the first Parish Registers were kept there were Hisseys, under alternative spelling, recorded in the County of Berkshire in the marriage registers of Wantage, in 1540, Kingston Lisle 1565 & West Hanney in 1583 & 1590. In Lamboum's register of Baptisms, the names of Henry Hizie, (Christened 13-3-1593) & his sister Elizabeth, (Christened 10-8-1595) appear. |
By the early 1600's there were several families living near the villages of Hinton Waldrist and Longworth, and another at Hanney, just a few miles away with one family farming at Carswell & Buckland, the other at Draycott and Southmore. It is possible that these families may have had a common father or grand-father. Although literally next to each other Longworth, Carswell and Buckland are in the Hundred of Ganfield, and Draycott Moor is in the Hundred of Ock. |
As far as I have been able find out so far with the sources I have been able to use, (the Parish Registers of Longworth, Hinton Waldrist, and Buckland and other Parishes in the area, Marriage Indexes and fairly comprehensive run of wills) our ancestor, Charles Hissey, (and those that came after him) descend from the Draycott Moor family and can be traced with a reasonable degree of certainty from the marriage of John Hissey(2nd) (father John Hyssie1st) and Cicely at Carter at Longworth in Berkshire on 11th February 1604, at the beginning of the Reign of James I. |
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The Longworth Church Graves from the 1500's on of John Hyssie (1st), John Hissey (2nd), with various wives, mothers, brothers and sisters |
We are lucky in that our ancestors were all reasonably well off yeoman farmers, and in the habit of making Wills. |
Our line descends from their son Robert who was baptised at Hinton Waldrist on 11th of November 1608. According to the record of Berkshire marriage licenses it is likely that he married Mary Ann (surname unknown, but she might actually have been Ann MAY not Mary Ann) of Hinksley in 1633, during the reign of Charles 1. (She seems to appear as Annish and Agnes in the Register at the birth of her children.) |
According to Robert's Will made in 1658 he lived at Draycott Moor in the Parish of Longworth, his brothers were Edward and Richard, and his children were John, Sisley, Joan, Robert and Thomas. After a number of bequests to his other children, Robert left his eldest son John(3rd) "all the rest of my goods movable and immovable, whom I make my whole and sole executor". |
Our next ancestor, Robert's son John (3rd) was baptised at Longworth on 25th February 1635. He would have been 7 years old at the start of the Civil War when Oliver Cromwell's republicans went to war with the Royalist supporters of King Charles 1. As the war raged around the Oxford area, close to where they lived, it would be interesting to know which side the Hissey's supported. |
John married around 1657, his wife was called Ann, but I have not been able to find any mention of her maiden name. They had at least 5 children, 4 sons and a daughter. Their first son was named John after his father. Their youngest son, born in 1674 was named Charles, so perhaps they were Royalists. |
John(2nd) lived at Draycott Moor and died in the Reign of Charles II, around 1678, aged 43. His wife Ann survived him and applied for letters of Administration of his Estate. According to the inventory made at his death his goods and chattels were worth £I47/06/08 (147pounds 6shillings and 8pence). His house had 4 chambers (bedrooms), a parlour, a hall, a kitchen, a buttery and a loft and he owned, amongst other things, several feather beds, cupboards, tables and chairs, pewter dishes, brass pots, five table cloths and three dozen napkins. |
He also had 4 harness beasts together with their harnesses, (probably oxen) I0 other beasts, sheep, lambs, cows, 6 pigs and a cart. There is also mention of £55/00/00 paid to Robert Hissey of Brightwell, who was probably one of John's brothers. |
John and Ann's eldest son John(4th), was born in 1658. In 1696, during the Reign of William Ill, when he was nearly 40, he married Mary Couldrey of Southmoor. Mary was probably the daughter of Moses and Roberta Couldrey who was christened at Longworth in I675. |
John and Mary had at least 4 children. Their only son John(5th), was born in 1701 and when his father died in 1726, aged 68, he was left an Inn known as the Sign of the Lamb, and two fields adjoining called the Stone Pitt ground and the Barn Ground together with all houses and outhouses pertaining to them. The girls Mary and Elizabeth were left £I00 each. His other daughter Ann who had married John Spanwick had already had her 'portion'. |
To his "beloved wife Mary" who survived him, he left an annuity of £I2/I0/- , his best bedstead, two pairs of sheets, pewter dishes, two table clothes and napkins, one table and four chairs, and a few other bits and pieces. It is nice to know that while the male Hissey's seemed to have owned everything, they believed in a fair share for the females in the family. |
The next John Hissey(5th), only son of John and Mary, married Mary Allin (sister of his good friend Richard Allin) on I9th February 1740, at Magdelin College Chapel, Oxford. The Allins were quite a prosperous family who lived at Iffley on the outskirts of Oxford. Their line can be traced back to Richard Allin of HarwelI who died in I6I0. This John and Mary (all these John and Mary's are quite a headache), had 4 children, 3 boys, the eldest called John(6th) as usual, and a daughter. |
In 1746 a second bell was cast for the Longworth Church, apparently to replace a damaged bell. Around the new bell are the words: |
Father John(5th) died in 1766, aged 65, leaving to his son John(6th) the Stone Pitt and the Barn Grounds of around 7 acres each, an orchard and 2 other 'grounds' of pasture and a number of tythes in Draycott Moor which he had held by leave of St. John the Baptist College of Oxford. His 2nd son, Richard, received 42 acres and Jonathon who was not yet 2I was left his Copyhold Estate and £I00. Daughter Elizabeth received £200. |
His wife Mary, who does not seem to have been treated quite so generously as her mother-in-law was 40 years before, was to have £5 a year. Mary, in fact, returned to Iffley and took her daughter Elizabeth with her. Mary died 3 years later in 1769 and Elizabeth married William Pike in 1774. |
John(6th), born at Longworth in 1743, married May Langham at Longworth in August 1767. Mary was the daughter of John and Elizabeth Langham. John Langham's father was Morris Langham and that is how the name Maurice (Morris) came into the family. |
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This John and Mary were a little more prolific and had seven children, including, (you have guessed it) an eldest son called John(7th). But this time our ancestor is not, John, but their second son Maurice, who was born in Longworth in 1775. When Maurice's father John(6th) died on 04/05/1794, aged 51, John(7th) as the eldest son inherited the bulk of his Estate, and Maurice and his other brothers were left £400 each, and the girls were left £300 to be invested for them until they reached the age of 2I. |
His 'dear wife Mary' was left all his stock of cattle, corn, hay, implements of husbandry, monies, securities, goods and chattels and personal estate. Mary survived her husband John by 30 years, dieing in I824. |
As Maurice does not seem to have inherited any property in Longworth from his father he used his inheritance to rent a farm at West Hanney. He married Jemima Palmer at Wantage on 10/12/I80I and their first three children, two girls and their eldest son, our ancestor Charles (b 11/09/1804) were all christened at West Hanney. In 1807 they then moved on to Buttermere in Wiltshire, had a farm of 550 acres, where another three sons were born. Buttermere is a quiet little agricultural hamlet, in a tree shaded valley on top of the downs. |
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The I838 Wiltshire Tithe Apportionments lists Maurice Hissey as occupying 550 acres, probable bought from James Lockhart, who was the largest landowner in the parish of Buttermere. JEMIMA died on 05-11-1838 at the age of 65yrs, and Elizabeth took over the running of her father's house, remaining a spinster. Charlotte married John Simpson Perrett, a son of John and Sylvia Perrett on 23-9-1834. They had at least one child, a daughter named Sophia was born in 1837, with possibly three other children. |
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Alfred married Ann and their son Alfred, born 1847 and Christened 21-01-1848 at Hungerford, married Mary Deborah Richen on 14-11-1876 at Hungerford. The family was then living and farming at Standen Manor. Thomas married Ann Elizabeth and lived at Wantage in Berkshire. A family of four children was born to them, Anne b 1844, Clara b 1846, William Henry b 1 848 and Thomas Palmer b 1 849. Henry did not marry. |
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Amongst my many archive searches throughout England, I found the Last Will & Testament of Great Great Grandfather Maurice Hissey. Originally my Great Grandfather Charles was an Executor and Beneficiary of his father's will, but subsequently was removed from Maurice's will. It is a mystery that still eludes our searches as to why Charles, the eldest male child in line to inherit the 550 acre farm (Manor Farm), would walk away from it all and emigrate to Australia. |
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Maurice Hissey Will 1884 Pg1 (a) |
Maurice Hissey Will 1884 Pg1 (b) |
Maurice Hissey Will 1884 Pg2 (a) |
Maurice Hissey Will 1884 Pg2 (b) |
Maurice Hissey Will 1884 Pg3 (a) |
Maurice Hissey Will 1884 Pg3 (b) |
Maurice Hissey Will 1884 Pg4 (a) |
Maurice Hissey Will 1884 Pg4 (b) |
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Maurice Hissey Will 1884 Codicil Pg1(a) |
Maurice Hissey Will 1884 Codicil Pg1(b) |
Maurice Hissey Will 1884 Codicil Pg2(a) |
Maurice Hissey Will 1884 Codicil Pg2(b) |
Maurice Hissey Will 1884 Codicil Pg3(a) |
Maurice Hissey Will 1884 Codicil Pg3(b) |
Maurice Hissey Will 1884 Codicil Pg4(a) |
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When Maurice died on 09-07-1847, he left the above long and rather complicated will, leaving £500 to his friends Robert Palmer, a brewer of Wantage, and Henry James Palmer, grocer of Wantage, (probably Jemima's brothers) to be invested in their names but the dividends were for Charlotte Perrett for her use exclusively. She was also to receive the bed, bedding and furniture in the room in which he then occupied. |
Thomas received a legacy of £100 in addition to the £500 given to him earlier, while Elizabeth was to receive £500 plus the bed, bedding and furniture in the room in which she occupied. Robert and Henry Palmer were to oversee the division of the farm between Alfred, CHARLES, & Henry but as Charles was living in South Australia by then, the farm went to Henry. In the 1851 census of Wiltshire, he was listed as head of the household and farmer of 550 acres, employing 11men, 5 boys and 4 women. |
In 1889, a letter arrived in S.A. addressed to Mr Thomas Hissey of Barossa, near Gawler, from a Mr. Slade, stating the death of Henry Hissey on 25-06-1889 at Wokingham in Berkshire. Henry had made his nephew Alfred one of his executors and bequeathed what little he had left to be shared equally between all his nieces and nephews. The freehold property had been heavily mortgaged and was in the hands of the Mortgagee. Considerable portions of the land had been sold and the writer was unsure if Henry still had an interest in the property at the time of his death. |
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The little St James Church in Buttermere where Maurice and Jemima are buried, is on the original farm that Maurice owned, only 200 metres down from their house. It is still in use, but because no power is connected, the services can only be held during daylight hours in summer. Behind the altar is a beautiful stained glass window erected by Henry in 1855, in memory of his parents, Jemima, who died in 1838, and Maurice, who died in 1847. |
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On the 27th February in 1840 Charles Hissey, aged 35, and the son of a yeoman farmer, married Emily Mills, aged I9, the daughter of a labourer from the village of Ham, just down the hill from Buttermere. Emily was one of a large family, the daughter of John and Elizabeth Mills, who came originally from the village of Little Bedwyn. Charles and Emily set sail for South Australia, just a few weeks later, together with Emily's Father, Mother and family. |
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Barque CHARLES KERR Arr Port Adelaide 17 06 1840 Dep London 06 03 1840 Capt Harford Arnold via Gravesend |
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The search is now on to find out why Charles left England altogether, as he was the eldest son, and in Maurice's will was to be left the farm of 550 acres. Reading Maurice's will is very interesting, he allowed for everyone, Thomas, Henry and Alfred the farm implements, Elizabeth and Charlotte had £400 each invested for them plus sundry household items. |
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On my 1st trip to England in 1972, the records were pretty thin on the ground, but over the years, subsequent tripping to England over the years until 2002, it was proving to be more fertile. |
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The whole family research activity here in Oz was started many years ago by my father Fred (who had such vivid memories and stories of the early Hisseys, and so many photos and memorabilia), and then cousin Bob Hissey came over from Adelaide and stayed with us and got involved, taking over from Fred, contacting all the relatives and collecting information and photos from everyone. Cousin Rayleen came over to stay, also got involved with Bob, and then compiled all the information for the book "A Shepherd Came from Buttermere", listing over 1500 descendents of Charles & Emily here in Australia at 1996. It is a credit to Rayleen for all their efforts. |
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A lot of people put a tremendous effort into collecting the information for the "Hissey" book, and Rayleen made up some wonderful large family tree charts, one for each line of descendants, that were put up around the hall when we had 254 "Hissey's" for the book launch. I can tell you it was something when all Hisseys stood together in the hall in March 96 - some of the stories told that day ranged from sad, moving to hilarious - and I'm proud to say my Dad had some of the best. |
| Bob Hissey addressing gathering of Charles & Emily descendents March 1996 |
Charles & Everelda Branch | Chart for my line down from great grandfather Charles (who came from Buttermere) to grandfather Charles to my father Frederick. |
Charles & Everelda Hissey descendents |
Brenton, Len, Bob, Ian & Fred (seated) |
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