The Origins of the Name Any consideration of families before official records began has to bear in mind that their history would have been written by the families themselves, often with good reasons for distorting or simply inventing much of it. For the English upper classes the matter of pedigree was of great importance in the marriage market. Evidence of good 'Good Breeding' was essential in making a good match. For hundreds of years the aristocrats of England were entirely French, following the Norman conquest in 1066. The anglo-saxons were mere peasants - so naturally any good pedigree had to be traced back to French aristocracy before the conquest. Claiming descent from a 'long extinct' French title was a good way of making it almost impossible to disprove the claim, and easy enough to invent. If any Hassard descendants reading this really believe your ancestor was the Duke of Charante, then you could just as realistically claim to be related to the Dukes of Hazzard.... so take everything that follows with a very big pinch of salt! Before considering the family 'tradition' here's the dictionary definition of the name Hassard/Hazard:
The earliest written account we have of Hassards in Lyme Regis is from Walter Yonge:
Yonge was a friend of the Hassards of Lyme, just writing a diary, not doing serious research, and probably noted what they told him - naturally making Rainold sound very grand, and especially very French... We have a more accurate account of this from Samuel Seyer:
Showing Rainold as one of two deputies doesn't look quite as impressive... The early editions of what we now know as Burke's Peerage took up the idea of enhancing the pedigree:
This starts to read more like a 19th century fairy tale and no evidence of any kind is given (this has all been dropped from later editions of Burke's, they are probably more realistic these days). Even his 'removed to Dorsetshire' is dubious as we know there were other branches of the Hassards in Gloucestershire and Nottinghamshire - it could only be claimed as 'removed' if the eldest son and heir made the move, leaving lesser family members elsewhere, but there is no evidence for that and there is evidence of more than one coats of arms, therefore more than one 'seat' in different parts of England. If Rainold was the sole source of the Hassard family, then according to IGI, by the death of Elizabeth I in 1603, members of his family had settled in Cambridgeshire, Cornwall, Gloucestershire, Derbyshire, Devon, Dorset, Herefordshire, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Kent, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, London, Norfolk, Nottinghamshire, Somerset, Staffordshire, Suffolk, Surrey, Worcestershire, and Yorkshire. There were never large numbers in any one place, with the main concentrations in Southern England - some counties had only one Hassard recorded though many records are of course missing. This could be consistent with lands being granted to various members of the same original family, though equally there could have been more than one original source of the name. We next had a much more detailed attempt at the family history by the Rev. Henry Short (of the Short-Hassard family) in 1858, summarised and updated by the Rev. Henry Swanzy in 1903. But keep in mind that he was in Newry, Northern Ireland and probably being paid by the local Hassard family to write this.....Swanzy was at least honest, if not always accurate:
As a result of all this fantasy, one tree on Ancestry World Tree claims that 'Reginauld Hazard' was the grandson of the Duke of Charante, and supposedly has all the links down to recent Hassards but with no dates for any of the early people. This appears to have been based on the list by Henry Short who tried to do the same thing, with succeeding generations living in extremely diverse parts of England. He seems to have invented stories to join them up as they were the only names he could find.... this is quoted in full below. - another tree on rootsweb, from another branch of the American Hazards, has a completely different attempt at this same lineage - neither having any evidence other than Short's imagination. The Hazard Family Letters - has a similar claim to link the Duke of Charante, b.1060, to the Hazards of Providence, Rhode Island, via William the Conqueror etc.. All of these seem to have originated from Henry Short. Most of the Providence RI trees link back to the Hassards of Nottingham, though some say Wales - and some of them getting very confused with the Hassards of Dorset - one even having a child born in 'Nottingham, Dorset' ! Treat with caution... Back to The Hazzardous Lyme Tree Extract from: Outlines of the History and Genealogy of the Hassards and their Connections (link to original book - PDF 9.4mb) - Rev. Henry Short, 1858 PREFACE. (after some extensive quoting of the Bible) . . . The origin of Surnames is very various ; many are taken from trades and professions—many are mere nicknames—probably the best are from the places in which families resided and where they possessed property. It seems that the Hassards or Hazards took theirs from the place in which they first settled in England. " The Manor of Haroldesore, in the parish of Ingleborne, in the county of Devon, is in old deeds, called the Manor of Hardlswardshore, otherwise Hardwerdshore, otherwise Hasworth, otherwise Hazard."—Lyons's Magna Britannia, Devonshire. From this place they apparently branched off—the one purchased lands in Derbyshire and Notts., in the reign of John, A.D. 1199, whose pedigree (as I have had the labour of collecting it from the " Rotuli Hundredorum," "Chancery Suits," and Wills in the Records Office at York) I insert ; the other (our branch) removed to Bristol. . . . History and Lineage [intro of current eminent family members] . . . The family of Hassard, Hassart or Hazard, is of Norman extraction, and of considerable antiquity. At the time of the Conquest they were living on the borders of Switzerland, and distinguished by the ancient but long extinct title of Duke de Charante. Two bearing this title visited the Holy Land as Crusaders. The cause of their first coming to our Island is
thus related, "In one of the early troubles of France
the Due de Charante being in rebellion and outlawed
by the Monarch, for safety placed his Duchess
and youngest Son, a boy of ten years of age, on
board a vessel in a neighbouring seaport under the
protection of a Doctor Foulke. Intelligence having
come to them that the Duke and his two eldest Sons During this period two of them held important offices in Bristol : one of whom, 3. Rainald or Reginald was (A.D. 1216) appointed
one of its first Præpositors, under circumstances
which throw considerable light upon his character.
With regard to the office itself, Corry in his
History of Bristol, says, the "chief magistrate of
the city was called Præpositor,"—but the name
is sometimes used to denote "the head or chief
officer of the king, in a town, &c." Sayer, in mentioning Mr. Hassard's appointment, represents
him as "a grave, sad and worshipful" man, who
was chosen to the office by the king (Henry III.)
on his coming to Bristol with his counsellors and
tutor, as to a place of safety. We may presume
therefore that Mr. Hassard was held in high esteem
as a man of honor and ability, as well as of gravity
and judgment; but it is impossible to do justice to
his character, and understand the importance to the
King of choosing such a sad, grave and worshipful
person thereto, without viewing the danger in which
his throne was then placed by Louis. Henry had
been hurriedly crowned at Gloucester—a plain ring
of gold being used for the occasion by Gualo, in consequence 4. Robert, but as nothing has been handed down respecting him, save that he possessed landed property in Essex, we shall pass to his son, 5. John. He is mentioned by Sayer in his History and Antiquities of Bristol, as coroner of that city in the reign of Ed. II., A.D. 1312. From Bacon, we find that "Coroners were so
called at this early period, because they deal principally
with pleas of the Crown—and are very ancient
officers at common law : who were principal conservators
of the peace (or magistrates) within their
counties. By Statute of Westminster, made 3rd The same character required and possessed by Mr. Hassard' s grandfather must have been equally called for in himself. Inasmuch as the King was at this time at variance with his Barons, and the City of Bristol took the side of his majesty, undoubtedly a discreet, learned and loyal man would be chosen to every important office, especially one where the magistrate and the lawyer were so combined. The whole country was in a wretched state. The lawless state of the English Channel was something fearful, not only from pirates but from English gentlemen in stations which to us in these days is inconceivable. A person therefore with ability and loyalty—at the same time with zeal and courage nocessaiy to fulfil the arduous duties of the office, would not be an every day character, and would no doubt be valued accordingly— such was Mr. John Hassard. Of his son 6. Thomas, we know nothing, save that he held
lands in the county of Stafford. He was succeeded 7. Alexander Hassard. Whose name appears, A.D. 1377, as witness to a deed amongst the Archives of Lyme Regis, in the county of Dorset.—From this period some of the family resided in or around Lyme for the next three centuries. He left amongst other children, a son, 8. Thomas, who settled himself for a time in Wiltshire, where he is mentioned amongst the worthies of that county. The following quotation from Roberts' History of Lyme, may account for his removal : —"In 1407, the grievous calamities of our townsmen are again set forth in startling language ; les rages du mer, come par autres arrivalx des enemys, arsures, pestilences, et par autres destructions." Again, the French ravaged the coast for several years, and landed and burnt many towns on the coast of Dorset and Devon. In 1481, by a petition, it appears that the ravages of the sea had been renewed—the burgesses and inhabitants set forth " that the town by tides and overflowing of the sea was often wasted, and many inhabitants departed from it." Long before this date, however, Mr. Hassard appears, from a lingering love for his native place, to have looked for an investment of his money as near to it as possible, and we consequently find his son comfortably seated within seven miles, (viz.) [after this bizzare tale of succesive genration holding lands huge distance apart, the story continues with them finally settling in Lyme Regis] |