Last name: 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". *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 name-bearer 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.
• 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.

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BARDSLEY

• SOURCE: Location

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• 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.

Beardsley/Beardslee DNA Project: What we are discovering:

1. The Beardsley surname was first adopted by a man born with the I-A4640 SNP, probably prior to 1500AD. To date all Beardsley lineages are A4640+.
2. The haplogroup was split by SNP I-L1483 around 1500AD. After this some lineages are A4640+ (L1483-) and others are A4640+ L1483+.
3. A line descending from Samuel Beardsley (b:29 Feb 1812 in Derbyshire, England and d:before 1855 in Illinois, United States) has tested Big Y with terminal SNP A4640.
4. A line descending from Richard Berdsley (b:Abt. 1521 Elsenham, Essex, England and d:7 June 1547 Elsenham, Essex, England) has tested Big Y with terminal SNP L1483+.
5. Two lines descending from the immigrant William Beardsley (b:9 Mar 1603 Ilkeston, Derbyshire, England and d:6 JUL 1661 Stratford, Fairfield, Connecticut, USA) have tested Big Y with terminal SNP L1483+.
6. There are unconfirmed records suggesting that Richard Berdsley may be the MRCA for all L1483+ Beardsleys, including the descendants of William Beardsley. No records have been discovered showing the common ancestors between Samuel Beardsley to Richard or William yet.