Serpell Family History

Welcome to the online resource for the Serpell family and its connections. On this site you will find information about the Serpell name, the origins of the family and the places to which they travelled, as well as details about some of the more notable members. The Serpell Family History project aims to collect information about Serpells and connected families across the world. The project was started by Nick and Nerina Serpell in 2000 as the Serpell One Name Study. As well as people born with the surname Serpell, or its various spellings we include women who married into the Serpell family, and the families of women born Serpell who married. This means that whether you trace your line back to a male or female Serpell, we hope to add it to this study. If you are a Serpell, or have a Serpell in your family, we hope you find something of interest in this site. If you have any family documents, photographs or memorabilia that you’d like to share with other family members or you just have any queries about Serpells then please get in touch. The information on this website is © The Serpell Family History Study. It may be used for private research but it must not be used for profit or reward. Copyright also exists in the images on this site and they may not be reproduced without permission.

Cornish origins

In 1573 Robert SERPLE married Temperance CRUFFE in St Dominic in the East of Cornwall, not far from the River Tamar. Their descendants now number more than 600, over 14 generations. The vast majority of Serpells now living can trace their ancestry back to this couple although some modern Serpells actually come from a completely different background altogether. The origin of the Serpell family, prior to the 16th century is a matter for some conjecture. It was originally believed that the family was Huguenot, and had fled to England from Catholic persecution. Robert Serple’s marriage in Cornwall in 1573, came a year after the infamous St Bartholomew's Day massacre in Paris. However, there is, as yet, no record of Robert's birth so we don't yet know whether he was born in Cornwall or elsewhere. Any refugees from Europe who arrived in Plymouth would have had an easy passage inland to St Dominic. They could sail up the River Tamar to Halton Quay which is in St Dominic parish. The land locally is fertile and would have seemed promising to anyone fleeing from persecution elsewhere. There is evidence that Serpells had been kicking around South East Cornwall some years before Robert married Temperance. A John Serple married Margaret Grills in South Hill near Callington in 1555. We have also found the record of an Alice Serple supposedly born at St Dominic about 1541.

Name Variations

There have been a number of different spellings of our surname over the years. Many of the earlier variations in wills and parish registers were usually the result of a lower standard of literacy, particularly in the 16th, 17th and early 18th centuries. Many people could not read or write and had no consistent way of spelling their own name. By the 19th century, and the advent of census records and civil registration of births, marriages and deaths, spelling became more consistent and the family name settled on SERPELL. A couple of variations survived into the 20th century. The first is SURPLE which, in its more modern incarnation, we believe originated as SUPPLE in Ireland. The second variation is SARPLE. Unlike all the examples above this came from a deliberate decision by one man to change his name. Samuel SERPELL, born 1836 in Stockport, Cheshire, abandoned his wife and children. He moved to Cumberland where he married again, bigamously but under the name of Samuel SARPLE, a name which does not seem to have existed anywhere in the UK prior to this. Some genealogists might argue that this is not a true variation. However, given that present day SARPLES are descended directly down the main SERPELL tree I have treated it as a variation and added them. In the UK SERPELL is pronounced to rhyme with purple. However Serpells in Australia put the emphasis on the second syllable Ser-PELL. It is interesting to speculate whether the current Australian pronunciation might have been the original one. We’ll never know the answer to that.

The Serpell Family History

A genealogy of the Serpell family and people connected with it

Cornish origins

Name Variations

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