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Origin |
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The ancient family 'de Blenerhayset', now called 'Blennerhassett', are of English stock. The origin of what is now essentially an Irish name may be found at the manor and village of Blenerhayset (now Blennerhasset, with single 't') in the northern English county of Cumberland, close to the border with lowland Scotland. Pronouncation has been Blen'hayset, Blen'hassett, Blen'rassett or simply 'Rassett.
Gospatric, Earl of Northumberland (from whom the Cumberland town Aspatria, near Blennerhasset, takes its name) had a son Earl Waldeof, first Lord of Allerdale, whose son Alan FitzWaldeof became second Lord of Allerdale. Alan was a benefactor of the Cistercian Abbey of St.Mary, Holm Cultram, restoring a monastery founded by Henry I (1100-1135) and giving to it one third of the manor of Holm Cultram (a.k.a. Abbeyholme or Abbeytown). Alan also gave the Manor of Blenerhayset, with Upmanby (then called Uckmanby), to his brother-in-law Ranulph de Lindsey, on the occasion of Ranulph's marriage to Alan's sister Ochtreda. Ranulph was from that time styled "Lord of Blenerhayset and Uckmanby", and from his family the property passed to the de Mulcaster family, who owned Blenerhayset for a long time.
The Blenerhayset family appear to have resided at Blenerhayset at an early date, perhaps before the Norman conquest of England begun by William I "the Conqueror" in 1066, at which time Cumberland was not yet a part of England so does not appear in the Domesday Book. Carrying no surname and owning no property, the family will no doubt have worked the land or otherwise served their Lord of the Manor. In the twelfth century one of them adopted or was given the name of the manor as a personal surname, he and his descendants being described as "de Blenerhayset" (i.e. "of Blenerhayset").
During the late 13th or early 14th century a descendant left the manor of Blenerhayset for the nearby city of Carlisle, "...for centuries the bulwark of the Western Marches against the Scots...". There in the 1350s is found Alan de Blenerhayset, prospering as merchant and participating in local politics, who in 1390 sealed a deed with the arms still used by the family. To carry such arms Alan or his ancestor will have performed significant service, perhaps military in nature, but how and when these arms were acquired is unknown. The three dolphins may perhaps indicate a connection with the sea.
Alan's son John Blenerhayset has the earliest dated representation of Blenerhayset arms, displayed in Thomas Jenyn's Roll, Queen Margaret's version temp. Edward III (1327-1377) [BL Add. Ms. 40851, microfilm M2015, membrane 126, shield 1498]. His arms are "gules three dolphins hauriant, embowed argent", the chevron ermine being first seen on his father's seal of 1390.
For generations after resided in or near Carlisle [N&B vol.2 p.109], perhaps as suggested in this Carlisle newspaper cutting, found in a scrapbook [FS] of c1886:
"...The Blennerhassets, or de Blennerhassets as the name originally was, are a Carlisle family, and the first of them that appeared here, probably as an apprentice to one or other of the guilds, was called after the name of his native village in the parish of Torpenhow, to distinguish him from his fellow apprentices, in days when surnames were unknown. The family was not of importance at Blennerhasset, as they do not appear to have held land there, or to have been lords of the manor. It is probable that the first of the family to appear in Carlisle was apprenticed to a tailor, for the Blennerhassets were members of the guild of Tailors at Carlisle, but the family at an early date rose to high position..."
This item also states that some Blenerhaysets were "...wardens of their guild, the Tailors..." .
[GRAHAM p.49] writes "...The family seems to have been then resident at Blennerhasset... ...but by the time of the next Alan de Blenerhayset c1353/4 they resided at Carlisle; at Carlisle the family prospered and many were elected Burgesses during the 14th century..." .
Blenerhaysets prospered at Carlisle a further 200 years, often serving as Mayor, Sheriff or Burgess for that city, until in 1547 they established themselves as gentry at Flemby Hall, Flemby (now called Flimby) on the Cumberland coast. From Cumberland departed sons who founded dynasties in the English counties Norfolk & Suffolk, also Irish counties Kerry, Limerick & Fermanagh.
Ancestor of the Norfolk, Suffolk and Fermanagh lines was Ralph de Blenerhayset of Carlisle, who in 1423 married Joan de Lowdham of Loudham, a 14 year old heiress. At the time of the marriage Joan was already a widow, she having as a child been married to Thomas de Heveningham, who died in 1422. By this marriage Ralph gained the manors of Loudham, Toddenham & Halvergate in Suffolk, Frenze in Norfolk, Kelvedon in Essex, thus becoming Lord of the Manor for these places, a young man of property and some standing in East Anglia.
In 1430 Ralph travelled from England to France as one of the retinue of Humphrey, Earl of Stafford, one year before the boy king Henry VI of England was crowned King of France, a Plantagenet attempt to permanently unite the two crowns following Henry V's famous victory at Agincourt fifteen years earlier. Ralph was knighted, at date and place unknown. His tomb of 1475 at Frenze in Co.Norfolk displays a fine monumental brass with effigy of "Ralph Blenerhayset, Esquire" wearing armour of the early 15th century, the earliest surviving portrait of a Blennerhassett.
Today only the Kerry and Limerick branches flourish, the others extinct in the male line, thus all living Blennerhassetts are of Irish descent. Their common ancestor is Robert Blennerhassett of Flimby, Co.Cumberland, who settled in Ireland soon after his father Thomas was granted lands in Co.Kerry in 1590.
Robert was one of three principal English planters or undertakers who settled some of the 6,000 acres in Kerry granted in 1587 by Queen Elizabeth I to Sir Edward Denny, Knt, of Dennyvale & Tralee, as his part of the "Plantation of Munster" she established on the vast Munster estates previously forfeited by the rebel FitzGerald, Earl of Desmond. The Denny grant included the Earl of Desmond's chief castle and town of Tralee.
The grant to Thomas Blennerhassett was contingent on he, or his heirs, rendering "one red rose at the festival of Saint John the Baptist (29th August)" and paying a rent of "six pounds sterling" per year. The family established themselves on adjoining townlands Ballycarty and Ballyseedy, a few miles from to Tralee, and since then have remained a prominent and well-respected family in Kerry and Limerick.
A distant cousin, writer and poet Thomas Blennerhassett of Co.Norfolk, c1600 served as a soldier in Ireland and in Guernsey, Channel Islands. A few years later this Thomas, with his brother Sir Edward Blennerhassett Knt, settled by beautiful Loch Erne in Co.Fermanagh, having in 1610 been granted land in the "Plantation of Ulster", on confiscated Maguire property in the western part of the Barony of Lurg. Their property stretched from Belleek to the river Bannagh and there they built "Castle Hassett" (Crevenish Castle) at "Hassettstown" (Ederney), also "Hassett's Fort" (Castle Caldwell) and the new towns Belleek, Ederney & Kesh. Belleek is today famous for its pottery.
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Family Name |
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The earliest (known) documented use of de Blenerhayset as a surname is a young woman <???> de Blenerhayset who married John de Newbiggin, 3rd son of Laurence de Newbiggin & <???> Wharton.
Laurence de Newbiggin granted lands to the abbey of St.Mary, Holm Cultram (a.k.a. Abbeyholme, Abbeytown) temp. Henry II (1154-1189), so the marriage was probably about that time [Cal. Pat. Rolls, Henry II, p.254] [BROWNE p. 1].
The next occurrence is Waldeve (a.k.a. Baldwin) de Blenerhayset, whose son Alan de Blenerhayset was pardoned in 1270 (54/55 Henry III) "...at the instance of Edward the King's son, for causing the death of another, and for any consequent outlawry..." [Cal. Pat. Rolls, 1270 (54/55 Henry III), p.446]. "Edward the King's son" was Prince Edward (b. 1239 d.1307), eldest son of King Henry III & Eleanor of Provence, soon to be crowned King Edward I of England at Westminster Abbey on 19.8.1274.
Considering this connection to Prince Edward, and Waldeve/Waldeof being variants of the same name, it is interesting to conjecture if Waldeve de Blenerhayset & his son Alan may be in some way related to the Lord of the Manor Alan FitzWaldeof, but no evidence found to indicate any family connection. The first names Waldeve and Alan may have entered the Blenerhayset family as a mark of respect toward their Lord or because they were popular names in use at the time.
The spelling of the family name varied almost as much as the place name, evolving from de Blenerhayset, to Blenerhayset, to Blenerhaset, to Blennerhassett, with numerous variations. Until the late 18th century the pronuncation of the family name remained "Blener'hay'set", not the modern "Blener'hass'et".
Outside Cumberland the name has been considered unusual and somewhat exotic, the celebrated Co.Norfolk man of letters Sir John Paston (II) writing to his brother on 2-Apr-1474 that Ralph Blennerhassett has "a name to start a hare" .
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Pronouncation of the family-name has been Blen'hayset, Blen'hasset, Blen'rasset, 'Hasset or 'Rasset.
The place-name is in Cumbria pronounced blin’reisit or 'Rasset.
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Some works relating to the history of Co.Norfolk contain references to the family name spelled "Bleverhayset", "Bleverhassett", etc. This is wrong, the letter "V" was never used, being an error arising because some 18th century antiquarians such as [BLOMEFIELD] misread inscriptions on monumental brasses of the Blennerhassett family at Frenze and elsewhere. An understandable mistake, the lettering is difficult to reaed and the name in East Anglia had become extinct early in the 18th century, so the reader of an inscription who was unfamiliar with the name could just as well see a "V" as an "N", and once in print their errors were often repeated by others.
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The hyphenated version of the name occurs mostly in Canada, in families descended from two Blennerhassetts from Lissataggle, Co.Kerry, who emigrated to Ontario in the mid 19th century. This change of name appears to have occurred soon after their arrival, so may originate with errors on immigration documents. These families are now widespread, principally in Ontario, Manitoba and British Columbia, where most of them continue to use Blenner-Hassett although a few have reverted to Blennerhassett.
A South African family also adopted the Blenner-Hassett variation. Irish-American academic Rowland Blenner-Hasset (1906-1986), born of a Tralee Blennerhassett family that had for many years been content to be known as "Hassett", on emigrating to the USA adopted "Blenner-Hassett, he perhaps believing this name more appropriate for his published work as Professor of English (Medievalist) and Doctor of Philology.
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Some, but not all, members of a Liverpool branch of the family use the variant "Blennarhassett", the result of early 20th century Registry Office error when completing a birth certificate.
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Hassett |
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There are two distinct origins to the name Hassett.
1. The gaelic Irish family "Hassett", whose homeland is in Co.Clare and north Co.Tipperary. This ancient Thomond family or sept of Oh Aiseadha were formerly called O'Hassia and O'Hessedy in English language records, from which evolved O'Hassett and the modern form, Hassett. This spelling was adopted during the 17th century, but the names O'Hashea, Assett, Hassie and Hussae were also in use at that time.
An unrelated family called O'Hassie, now known as Hahessy or Oh Aithesa in Irish and originally from Co.Galway, may still be found in Co.Waterford.
2. The Blennerhassett family have, from early times in both England and Ireland, used the name 'Hassett, Hassett or Hasset for convenience as an alternave surname. This arose out of convenience, as a verbal shorthand, people being addressed as "Mr Hassett" or "Capt. Hassett", they using the full name "Blennerhassett" principally for documents and letters. Because Blennerhassett families became known to everyone in their locality as "Hassett", church ministers or local officials would sometimes write Hassett in public records such as parish registers. This became accepted, the names Blennerhassett and Hassett appearing in documents and records more or less at random, for the same individuals, from the late 15th century onwards.
Some Blennerhassett families who had become isolated from a main line of the family, or who emigrated to the USA or Australia, after a while dropped the "Blenner" altogether, the family becoming "Hassett" for all purposes. A few individuals in these families later reverted to the full name, but most did not.
The non-Irish Blennerhassett families all being extinct in the male line, if you carry the surname Hassett, whether your ancestors were always Hassett, or were once Blennerhassett, they were certainly Irish.
Because of the above, in Ireland it is sometimes not at all easy to distinguish between Blennerhassetts, who settled in Co.Kerry & Co.Fermanagh at the end of the 16th century, and the gaelic Irish Hassett. A modern Hassett whose ancestors hail from Co.Clare or Co.Tipperary is generally a native Irish "Hassett", while a Hassett whose ancestors came from Co.Kerry is always descended from "Blennerhassett". Those from Co.Cork or Co.Limerick or from one of the Irish cities may be descended from either....
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Blennerhassett
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Here is a curious occurance. In some Co.Kerry parish registers, both Roman Catholic and Church of Ireland, marriages have occurred where either the bride or groom have, in the parish register, entered their surname and that of their father as Blennerhassett. Following this, either on the same day or at some subsequent date, the Blenner portion of the name has been drawn through, leaving only Hassett.
Where this occurs, the Blennerhassett half of the couple is usually a descendant of a couple who married without parental approval, often a mixed Church of Ireland / Roman Catholic marriage, or is a descendant of an illigimate or "natural" Blennerhassett child. I have also seen this in England, once, at Swindon village near Cheltenham in 1832.
It may be that, in these cases, the priest has decided or been persuaded that such families should be recorded as Hassett and not Blennerhassett.
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Spelling of the Place Name |
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The earliest documented references to the manor of Blennerhasset are as "Blendherseta" in 1188 & 1189 and "Blennerheiseta" in 1188
"The Place Names of Cumberland" part 2, pub. by The English Place-name Society, vol.21, 1943-44 [PNC] lists these spellings:
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Blennerheiseta |
1188 Pipe Rolls |
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Blennerhasset(t) |
1353 Carliol, Pipe Rolls
1501 Inquisition Post Mortem (i.p.m.) |
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Blendherseta |
1188, 1189 Pipe Rolls |
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Blenh’ sete |
1190-2, 1195 Pipe Rolls |
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Blenherseta |
1194 Pipe Rolls |
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Blenhersetta |
1194 Close Rolls |
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Blenreheyset |
1230 Scotland |
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Blenerheyset(e) |
1235 Feet of Fines |
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various spellings occur using combinations of:
Blenyr-, Blenar- & –hayset, -heysat, -haysat, -hesset, -hasset |
1235-1400 Feet of Fines |
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Blemerheyset |
1276 Ass |
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1290 AD vi |
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Blennirhaiset |
c1290 Lowther |
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Blenerhaysette |
1308 Inquisition Post Mortem (i.p.m.) |
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Blenarhasset |
1432 AD i |
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Blenreyset |
1271 Patent Rolls |
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Bleineyset |
1271 Patent Rolls |
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Bleneyherset |
1276 Ass |
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Blencherhayset’ |
1278 Ass |
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Blenkaysette |
1278 Ass |
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Blencharnsete |
1278 Ass |
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Blinenhaysete |
1278 Ch |
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Blanarhasset |
1426 Cl, 1459 Patent Rolls |
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Blynroset |
1610 Speed (on one of Speed's maps) |
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Blanrasset |
1675 Sandford |
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Blinrosset |
1675 Ogilby |
"The Place-names of Cumberland and Westmorland", by W.J. Sedgfield (1915), [PNCW] lists these spellings:
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Blendherset |
1188 P.R. |
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Blenerhaisath |
1291, 1189 Inquisition Post Mortem (i.p.m) |
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Blennerhiisset |
Testementa Karliolensis(?) |
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Blennerheist |
1188, 1353 P.R. |
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Blenhersete |
1190 P.R. |
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Blenerhaysette |
1285 Inquisition Post Mortem (i.p.m) |
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Blenerheyset |
1234 Feet of Fines |
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Blenerhayset |
Testementa Karliolensis(?) |
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Blenerheysat |
1238, 1369 Feet of Fines |
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Blinenhaysete |
1277 Charter Rolls |
Other spellings are Blennyre, Blenerseta & Blenerhayset in 1392/3
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Meaning of the Place Name |
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"The Place-names of Cumberland and Westmorland", by W.J. Sedgfield 1915 [PNCW]:
"A difficult name. Judging from several of the recorded forms, the latter part may possibly be from Old Norse hey, ' hay/ and Old Norse scetr, * summer-pasture.' If this is correct, we may look for a pers. n. in the first el.
For the terminal forms -hasset, 'hayset, etc., we may compare Ughtrichassatf an early form of Oughterside, q.v. The P.R. spellings -herset, -hersete seem to be errors."
"The Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names" 1960 [ODEP]:
"Apparently a hybrid name, the second part being an Old Norse HEYSAETR or 'Hay Shieling'.
The first seems to contain Welsh BLAEN meaning 'top'. It might be the Welsh BLAEN-DRE or "Hill Farm".
“A Dictionary of English Placenames” by A.D.Mills 1993 [DEPN]:
“Hay Shieling at the Hill Farm”, from “blain (Celtic) + tre + hey (Old Scandanavian) + saetr”.
It could mean simply “Hay hut (i.e. barn or shed) on the hill”
“The Place Names of Cumberland” part 2 (English Place-name Society, vol.21 1943-44) [PNC]:
“Probably, as suggested by Ekwall ("A Dictionary of English Place Names"), the Old Norse heysaetr, ‘haysheiling’, has been added to a British place-name containing blaen, ‘top’. The medial –er- is best explained by Ekwall on the supposition that the full first element corresponded to Welsh blaen-dre, ‘hill farm’.”
I have difficulty accepting these definitions because Blennerhasset village lies on flat land, a river valley, there is no hill... - B.J.
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Manor, Village and Farm |
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The medieval manor of Blenerhayset is now the village of Blennerhasset, unlike the family name spelt with a single 't'. In past times spelling of the place name varied considerably, but by the 19th century Blennerhasset was well established. In Cumbria the village name is pronounced blin’reisit or 'Rasset.
The village lies on the banks of the River Ellen in Allerdale, within the new county Cumbria (formed in 1974 by merging the historic counties of Cumberland, Westmorland, part of Lancashire north of the sands, and part of Yorkshire).
The village remains small and has today all but merged with the adjacent hamlet of Baggrow across the river Ellen, to form a single community connected by "Blennerhasset Bridge". Blennerhasset has a primary school, about which a video was published a few years ago, Post Office, shop and war memorial. The local pub is the “Grey Goat”, across the river in Baggrow.
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photo: courtesy of Phil Huff, NSW, Australia
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Directions...
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Entering the Village |
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click on image to enlarge
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BLENNERHASSET POST OFFICE
THIS BUSINESS WAS FOUNDED IN 1867 BY WILLIAM LAWSON OF BRAYTON, GENTLEMAN,
PHILANTROPIST, 4TH SON OF SIR WILFRID WYBERGH LAWSON OF BRAYTON, BARONET |
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IN MEMORY AND HONOUR OF THE MEN OF BAGROW AND BLENNERHASSET WHO FELL IN THE GREAT WAR |
Blennerhassett War Memorial
for
1914-1918 and 1939-1945 |
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Two postcards of Blennerhasset Village c1920 |
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Blennerhasset is three miles from the larger village of Aspatria, eight miles from Wigton (the closest town), and 18 miles from Carlisle (the closest city). It is now a joint township with Kirkland, of 1263 acres, and since 1934 has been a part of the parish of Torpenhow, in Allerdale ward below Darwent.
The parish of Torpenhow (“The Hill of Torpen”) includes four townships (villages or hamlets), each of these at one time a distinct manor.
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Torpenhow |
cum (with) |
Whitrigg |
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Blennerhasset |
cum |
Kirkland |
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Bothel |
cum |
Threapland |
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Bewaldeth |
cum |
Snittlegarth |
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Baggrow & Blennerhasset Cricket Club c1906
A "Real Photograph" postcard posted 18th September 1906 (1908?)with Edward VII halfpenny green postage stamp and Blennerhasset Post Office postmark.
(Real Photograph Postcards or RPPC are original photographs, reproduced by developing onto photographic paper of similar size and weight to a conventional Postcard, with a printed Postcard back. Although a Real Photograph Postcard image is not printed, a quantity of almost identical cards may be made from the same negative)
The Cricket Club remains active, based at Blennerhasset Sports Field and Playing Field
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"Blennerhassett Hall", presumably occupying the site of the medieval manor house, is now a farm. Until the 18th Century the tenants of Blennerhasset manor paid an ancient annual rent of £23, and arbitrary fines, also heriots on the widow's death as well as on the death of the tenant, and several boons and services, vis: “...one day mowing, shearing, ploughing, meadows dressing, and two days leading coals...”.
An advertisement in the “Mining Journal” of 1860 [MJ 1860 pp.634, 732] offered for sale the “...Blennerhassett Estate, Torpenhow, Cumberland...” including “...minerals under, coal & iron...”.
William Lawson of Brayton was interested in the concept of co-operative farming and in October 1861 he was given "Blennerhasset Farm" by his father, a local landowner, on which to experiment with his ideas. The farm was initially 333 acres, to which another farm of 87 acres was added. Lawson organized a farm worker's agricultural cooperative to run the farm, the labourers having a large share of the profits and the provision of machinery being on a co-operative basis. The experiment had notable successes, but Lawson later disagreed with some of the workers' decisions and they didn't appreciate him attempting to interfere with their policies. The experiment was terminated after ten years, "the tenants being unable to keep themselves above water", and the farm sold.
William Lawson owned a famous stallion which he named "Co-operation". In 1867 opened the Blennerhasset village shop and Post Office, which still thrives. His experiences were published as "Ten Years of Gentleman Farming at Blennerhasset", 1874, reprinted 1875 in the "Good Words" magazine, part of "Experiments in Agriculture, Physical and Social" by John Ludlow [LAWSON] [JONES]. A "Plan of Blennerhasset Farm, the property of William Lawson, Esq." of June 1870 is at [CRO PR138/33].
"Blennerhasset Mill" is an old sandstone water-driven flour mill on the River Ellen, built or rebuilt c1647 and restored in the 1990s by Andy Curle of Wigton, with local volunteer help. The mill is a renewable energy project, surrounded by flourishing organic gardens, open to the public. Also in Blennerhasset village is a workshop making quality hardwood furniture. The Blennerhasset post code is CA5.
Located as it was at the extreme northern edge of the ancient Roman Empire, Blennerhasset contains the site of a Roman fort, at O.S. NY1941 (See “Fieldwork on the Roman Fort Site at Blennerhasset, Cumbria” by Jeremy Evans & Christopher Scull [EVANS & SCHULL] & [BRITANNIA vol.XVIII, 1987, p.12].
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A farm at Gosforth, Co.Cumbria, 30 miles from Blennerhasset village, is named "Blennerhazel Farm" and has carried this name since before 1901. That the name was once "Blennerhasset Farm" is confirmed by "The Place-names of Cumberland and Westmorland", by W.J. Sedgfield [PNCW] which reports, of Blennerhazel, "...Dr. Parker tells me the house was built by the Coalbanks, who came from Blennerhasset..."
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Name & Origin
