Surname: Beardsley or Beardslee

This is a One Name Study to collect together everything about our surname and the variants of that name. The hope is that other researchers like you will join our study to help make it a valuable reference point for people studying family lines that cross or intersect. For more information please contact project leader(s)/researchers, John G.D. Beardsley at jgdb@twcny.rr.com, Valarie (Beardsley) Beadle at vbeadle@thedotnetgroup.net , or Nick Dann at nfdann@comcast.net. 

Not the bit least, we want to pay homage to our Beardsley/Beardslee forebears, lest they fade into some local death statistic.

 BEARDSLEE, BEARDSALL, BIRDSLEY, BEARLEY, BARSLEY, BEARDSELL, BEARSLEY, BERZLEY

See Forebears 'Beardsley'
This interesting surname is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a locational name from some minor, unrecorded or now "lost" place, believed to have been situated in Nottinghamshire or Leicestershire where the name is most popular. An estimated seven to ten thousand villages and hamlets are known to have disappeared since the 12th Century, due to such natural causes as the Black Death of 1348, in which an eighth of the population perished, and to the widespread practice of enforced "clearing" and enclosure of rural lands for sheep pastures from the 15th Century onwards.
The placename is believed to derive from the genitive case of the Olde English pre 7th Century byname "Beard", from the vocabulary word for a beard, with "leah", wood, glade, clearing, hence, "Beard's wood". 
Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.
© Copyright: Name Origin Research www.surnamedb.com 1980 - 2014

Not Bardsley {or at least not recently}
BARDSLEY

SOURCE: Location
USAGE: English
Meaning & History: From the name a village lying between Ashton-under-Lyne and Oldham, in the County of Lancashire, England. It means "Beornred's clearing" in Old English, Beornred being a given name meaning "warrior counsel".
A member of the Bardsley family tested and joined the Beardsley/Beardslee DNA project. His results show that the Bardsley and Beardsley/lee families share a common ancestor, BUT in the very ancient past, perhaps as many as 20,000 years ago. The similarities of spelling and sound of the surnames is interesting.
An interesting posting at Forebears 'Bardsley' (also noted above) suggests that 'Beardsley' may have derived from the name 'Bardsley'. Of this we have no proof, but the DNA link of Bardsley and Beardsley might suggest this to be true. If so, the Forebears site says that Bardsley is derived from a geographical locality. 'of Bardsley,' a parish between Ashton and Oldham, near Manchester.

*Early recordings of the name include the marriage of Jese Beardsle and Edward Weze on February 26th 1575, at Carlton by Market, Bosworth, Leicestershire, and the marriage of Joan Beardsley and Thomas Weston at Gedling, Nottinghamshire, on April 16th 1604.
William Beardsley, a mason, aged 30 yrs., was an early emigrant to New England, leaving London on the "Planter" in April 1635. A famous namebearer was Aubrey V. Beardsley (1872 - 1898), an English illustrator noted for his stylized black and white illustrations, especially for Oscar Wilde's "Salome".
The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John Beardsley, which was dated November 28th 1573, marriage to Joane Ulsecroft, at Ashby De la Zouch, Leicestershire, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1, known as "Good Queen Bess", 1558 - 1603.

Beardsley/Beardslee DNA Project:
https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/beardsley-beardslee/about
https://www.familytreedna.com/public/Beardsley_Beardslee?iframe=yresults

Our Beardsley - Beardslee surname DNA project is always looking to recruit new male members of the family to test their Y-DNA. Taking a Y-DNA test of at least 37 STR markers will help to verify the various lineages of the family. Please contact me, John G. D. Beardsley at jgdb@twcny.rr.com if you have any questions about the various DNA tests, genetic genealogy or interest in joining the DNA project.
While our DNA project is primarily intended to trace the Beardsley - Beardslee surname ''{thus Y-DNA}'', we also accept MTDNA ''(female lineages)'' and autosomal ''(FTDNA's Family Finder, AncestryDNA or 23 and Me)'' tests into the project.

Results:

Two members of the Beardsley/Beardslee DNA project have taken the advanced "Big Y" test at FTDNA. Their results, along with the other STR tests taken by all members of the project, reveals that two lineages of the Beardsley - Beardslee families whose earliest known ancestors immigrated to America are closely related though the connecting ancestor of the immigrants is unknown. All of the male descendants of these two ancestors share the I-A4637 SNP (follow the link to view a detailed DNA tree).

Interestingly there is a gentleman in Barbados who participated in the 1000 Genomes Project who also shares the A4637 SNP. He is a 4th generation Barbadian of African descent. Discovering how and when his family connects to ours will be fascinating.

More testers are needed, especially from non-American Beardsley - Beardslee families, to explore and confirm lineages our family. Using DNA along with traditional paper trail research is the surest method to record the history of this amazing family.