Kelsall

Dr Patricia Ellis and Anne Kelsall have had a family history researching partnership for around the last 25 years. Anne is the site master here at kelsall.info. Anne began her family history website 'career' when asking the innocent question of "what's your web address?" to the Chairman of FIBIS, Peter Bailey. Suddenly, I found myself having to learn how to create a website! Note to self, never ask seemingly innocent questions.

The "PEAK" identifier are our initials combined.

The pages within peak.kelsall.info are the copyright of Patricia Ellis & Anne Kelsall , unless stated otherwise. Fair use and personal research purposes are permitted. Please acknowledge the copyright owners.

For navigation: Within our pages, the "PEAK" button in the header will return you to this page. Clicking on the "Researchers" button will take you to the researchers' index page. If you wish to return to the main Kelsall site page, click on "Kelsall" in the header, or the "Home" button. (Currently this is the only page in the section)

Thanks to Martin Goldstraw of Cheshire Heraldry for the rendering of the Kelsall arms. His site is truly worth a visit, to view the many magnificant coats of arms and wealth of information on the subject.

Patricia and Anne can definitively trace the first Kelsall ancestor to Lieut. Joseph Kelsall (of the British Army, born c.1752-d.1841) and Rachel HICKSON (of Ireland). Unfortunately for us, this is the very same point we have been on for the last 25 years, our brickwall. Decendants from this line are primarily in Australia, England, Ireland and Canada. Around a quarter to a third of the Austalian Kelsalls belong to this line.

There are two main "army" lines of Kelsall, Joseph Kelsall being one of them (referred to as the "Kelsalls of Australia & Ireland"), and who probably has more living descendants than the other line (referred to as the "Moultrie line" or the "Kelsalls of Pinxton"). For many years we focused on any and all possible links to the Moultrie line, and although making a number of breakthroughs on the Moultrie line, it looks certain that the lines are not connected before 1620. Hopefully when more Kelsall males participate in the Kelsall DNA Project, some of these connections can be resolved.

The three main areas of research we have done over the years has been on the British Army (& Navy) careers of Joseph Kelsall, his sons and grandsons; the ascendants in the Moultrie line; and latterly focusing on the Kelsalls of Liverpool and Chester/Trafford. It is this last line of research that still seems the most promising, with some family lore seeming to point in this direction – although the Joseph brickwall remains resilient to any breakthrough, much to our frustration.

A special and personal thank you to Roger Nixon, military historian, who has been of invaluable help over the years. Roger, we are eternally grateful for all the help you have given us.

Joseph Kelsall was born in England around 1752, his reported age at death in 1841 was 88 years of age (age as stated on his death certificate, informant his youngest son Capt Edward William Kelsall, our direct line). On the 1st December 1786 Joseph married Rachel HICKSON (c1764-1826), daughter of Edward HICKSON (1720-1788) and Pracentia KEITH, of Ireland. Joseph and Rachel were married at Cashel, Ireland.

In the early Army Muster records Joseph is recorded as being English (rather than Irish, or Scottish). According to the pedigree recorded in the Kelsall family history book lodged at the Society of Genealogists in London, some of the information coming from his grandsons, the notes speculate that Joseph's origins could be – the son of the Mayor of Chester (false); the son of a West India Merchant (the likely line of enquiry); and had an argument with his family and ran away to enlist (this seems verified, as Joseph seemed to have no more to do with his family).

Joseph Kelsall and Rachel Hickson had nine children in all, several dying in infancy/early childhood. The children of Joseph and Rachel were:

– Lt Col Joseph Kelsall (1787-1763) m Sarah HOLMES of Ireland. Descendants in Ireland, England, and Canada.

– John Kelsall (1789-1790) died as infant.

– William Kelsall (1792-1793) died as infant.

– Frances Kelsall (1793-1795) died as child.

– Jane Kelsall (1799-1851) m Dr Tully DALY (Army Surgeon), descendants in England.

– Elizabeth Kelsall (1800- ) m Avary JORDAN (Solicitor of Dublin), descendants in Ireland, and Western Austalia.

– Dr Henry Kelsall (1802-1874) British Navy Surgeon, m1 Susannah TRUMAN, had issue, descendants in Western Australia. m2 to Louisa COCUM, had issue, one dau unmarried. m3 to Eliza GRAHAM, no issue.

– Col John Kelsall (1803-1880) British Army, m1 Annabella LIPSITT, issue one dau died as infant. m2 Ann(a) CUNNABELL, no issue.

– Capt Edward William KELSALL (1808-1875) British Army, m Susannah C Larkins WALKER (of the Larkins East India Company dynasty, our other major line of research), had issue. Descendants primarily in Australia – Victoria, Western Australia. This is Patricia and Anne's line.

We made a number of breakthroughs on this line. Patricia connected the Lt Col Roger Kelsall (Royal Engineers) stray of (later) Tasmania into this line. On the maternal side (the Moultries) Anne did research into the BLIGHs (the same 'mutiny on the Bounty' line). Prior to the John Kelsall and Lucretia Moultrie marriage, several generations of Kelsalls were in the Bahamas and southern United States (primarily Virginia, South Caroline and Florida). This line then comes from the Kelsalls of Pinxton in Derbyshire.

This region has been our most recent focus of research, particularly the Trafford line and the Mayor of Liverpool, Richard Kelsall. Alderman Kelsall seemed to be about the first Kelsall in Liverpool, and fairly certainly is from the Kelsalls of Trafford (just outside of Chester). The more profilic line in Liverpool, just after Richard Kelsall are the Kelsall shipwright line (one of whom went to the West Indies and has living descendants). Our current hunch is that our Joseph Kelsall is the probable grandson of Alderman Kelsall.

From time to time we revisit the various lines that have used (unofficially!) the Kelsall coat of arms. The Kelsall arms were primarily the Kelsall of Bradshaw Hall line, although not even this line officially registered the crest during the visitations.

We noted that various other Kelsalls had (unofficially) used the arms – the Moultrie line, Dr Henry Kelsall of our line, and various of the Trafford/Chester lines. This does lead to the suspicion that these lines do eventually join up. It is likely that many of the Kelsall lines join up to perhaps three main origins, if not ultimately one or two, but records tend to be a bit sketchy around this period and I doubt that lineage will be confirmed absolutely, the main hope being in the Kelsall DNA project. As many of you are already aware, the coat of arms does not belong to "a surname" but family lineage.