Hayselden

The Olde English locational name 'hoesal - denu'. The valley of the Hazel trees is the origin of this rare variant spelling. More normally found in the surname form as Hazelden, Hazeldine and Heseltine, the name has the same root origins and probably originates from Hasselden in Sussex or Heselden in Durham. Despite the rarity of the spelling, it is quite well recorded as in effect a variant of a variant. The name recordings including Grace Haysellden, christened at St. Andrews Church, Holborn on February 4th 1662 whilst in 1848 Sarah Haselden married Alfred Morris at the Church of St. Clement Danes, Westminster on the 13th of February in that year. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Robert de Heseldene, which was dated 1243, witness at the Assize Court of Durham, during the reign of King Henry III, The Frenchman, 1216 - 1272. 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.