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Cursley
About the study
Variant names
Name origin
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.
History of the name
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
Name frequency
The 1841, 1851 and 1861 U.K. Census Records can be viewed on the Guild Electronic Archive The other Census years will follow shortly.
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.
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.