My Family Surnames in Sussex

Overview

This gives some history about the surnames in my own family. There are nine of them – Shelley, Chisholm, Bartlett, Blackman and Probyn on my father’s side and Bowles, Attree, Pelling and Foster on my mother’s side. All have their recent history in and around Brighton in Sussex, England. But many came originally from elsewhere.

Shelley is a Sussex name. My own family dates back to about 1700 and the village of West Firle in the Sussex downland. The lord of the manor then was Catholic, as was probably my family as well. And because they probably had to hide that fact at a time that Catholics were being persecuted, we have no records further back. I follow the ups and downs of this family from West Firle to Alfriston, also on the Sussex Downs, and finally to Brighton.

Attree, Bartlett, Blackman and Pelling were also Sussex names for us. Chisholm came to Sussex from the Scottish borders at the time of the Napoleonic Wars, Bowles from Leicestershire, Probyn from Gloucestershire, and Foster from Lancashire.

These are the nine family surnames of mine to be found here.  Click below to check one out.

Four other particular Sussex surnames covered here – although not family surnames to me – are Gage, Harmer, Jenner, and Penfold.

Written by Colin Shelley