by Gary. M. Anstey, chief researcher of the Anstey story project.
Given that all ‘Anstey’, Ansty’, ‘Anstee’ and ‘Anstie’ pre-1770, and the overwhelming majority of ‘Anstey’, Ansty’, ‘Anstee’ and ‘Anstie’ alive today, are connected, sharing a common 12th century origin, all Ansteys by definition belong to multiple Anstey sub-branches. It also follows that the closer two Ansteys are related to each other, the more their respective multitude of Anstey sub-branches will overlap.
As such, when conducting ‘Anstey’, Ansty’, ‘Anstee’ and ‘Anstie’ genealogical research it makes sense to focus on major and minor sub-branches, and connecting them together like blocks of lego. For example, I (Gary) can trace my Anstey ancestral line back centuries by connecting together the following major Anstey sub-branches:
- I am a Stoke Gifford Anstey;
- the Stoke Gifford Ansteys are a sub-branch of the Dyrham Anstees;
- the Dyrham Anstees and the Stoke Gifford Ansteys are both part of the South Gloucestershire Anstey pedigree;
- the South Gloucestershire Ansteys are a sub-branch of the South West Peninsula Ansteys;
- the South West Peninsula Ansteys are a sub-branch of the Cambridgeshire Ansteys of the 1400s and early 1500s;
- the Cambridgeshire Ansteys of the 1400s and early 1500s are a sub-branch of the medieval Edmonton Ansteys; and
- the medieval Edmonton Ansteys are part of the medieval Anstey pedigree commenced in 1143 by Hubert de Anstey, the originator of the ‘Anstey’ surname.
This is illustrated nicely in the following diagram, which will appear in the fourth edition of ‘ANSTEY: Our True Surname Origin and Shared Medieval Ancestry‘ when it is published [note: ‘Anstey evolved from Other Surnames‘ sub-branches do not attach to this pedigree].
Of course the more we dissect ‘Anstey’, Ansty’, ‘Anstee’ and ‘Anstie’ sub-branches, the more numerous they become (I (Gary) could also add that I am a member of the Singapore Ansteys, which is a minor sub-branch of the Lambeth Ansteys, which is a minor sub-branch of the Cardiff Ansteys, which is a minor sub-branch of the Llantarnam Ansteys, which is a minor sub-branch of the Stoke Gifford Ansteys etc). However the more we dissect sub-branches in this manner, the less there is sub-branch overlap between Ansteys, the more unwieldy the overall Anstey pedigree becomes, and consequently the less useful and more complex the Anstey Story project becomes.
Hence we will try to come to a happy compromise, which in the case of my (Gary‘s) Anstey ancestral line is ceasing the major sub-branch dissections at the Stoke Gifford Ansteys (which we believe currently contains a few hundred Anstey members). So every single Anstey alive today who can trace his or her direct ancestral line back to John Anstey, patriarch of the Stoke Gifford Ansteys, is a ‘Stoke Gifford Anstey’, regardless of where they live in the world today and regardless of whether they have even heard of Stoke Gifford!
We are aiming to classify all ‘Anstey’, Ansty’, ‘Anstee’ and ‘Anstie’ alive today into one of around seven principal sub-branches, which split into about one hundred major sub-branches, and then around five hundred minor sub-branches of the major sub-branches, which seem to be three nice round numbers.
Thus far we have begun to update information onto this website project concerning the following ‘Anstey’, Ansty’, ‘Anstee’ and ‘Anstie’ principal, major and minor sub-branches:
- America:
- Australia:
- Gippsland, Victoria Ansteys (minor sub-branch of the Milverton Ansteys)
- Kilmore, Victoria Anstees (minor sub-branch of the Thornborough Anstees)
- Majorca, Victoria Anstees (minor sub-branch of the Swanbourne Ansteys)
- St Kilda, Victoria Ansteys (minor sub-branch of the Chulmleigh Ansteys)
- Subiaco, Western Australia Ansteys (minor sub-branch)
- Toodyay, Western Australia Ansteys (minor sub-branch of the Monkokehampton Ansteys)
- Bedfordshire:
- Caddington Ansteys (major sub-branch)
- Houghton Regis Anstees (major sub-branch of the Swanbourne Ansteys)
- Toddington Anstees (minor sub-branch of the Houghton Regis Anstees)
- Berkshire:
- Blewbury Ansteys (principal sub-branch of the Berkshire Ansteys)
- Buckinghamshire:
- Swanbourne Ansteys (principal sub-branch of the Buckinghamshire Ansteys)
- Aylesbury Anstees (minor sub-branch)
- Edlesborough Anstees (minor sub-branch)
- Ivinghoe Anstees (minor sub-branch)
- Newport Pagnell Anstees (minor sub-branch)
- Thornborough Anstees (minor sub-branch)
- Canada:
- Twillingate Ansteys (major sub-branch)
- Cornwall:
- Devon:
- Dorset:
- Hampreston Ansteys (major sub-branch)
- Poole Ansteys (major sub-branch)
- Tarrant Crawford Ansteys (major sub-branch)
- Gussage Ansteys (minor sub-branch)
- Sixpenny Handley Ansteys (minor sub-branch)
- Essex:
- Prittlewell Anstees (minor sub-branch of the Houghton Regis Ansteys)
- Hertfordshire:
- Flamstead Anstees (minor sub-branch)
- Hemel Hempstead Anstees (minor sub-branch)
- Monmouthshire:
- Christchurch Anstees (minor sub-branch of the Dyrham Anstees)
- New Zealand:
- Somerset:
- South Africa:
- South Gloucestershire:
- Dyrham Anstees (principal sub-branch of the South Gloucestershire Ansteys)
- Doynton Ansteys (major sub-branch of the Dyrham Anstees)
- Stoke Gifford Ansteys (major sub-branch of the Dyrham Anstees)
- South West Peninsula (Devon and Somerset):
- Dulverton Ansteys (principal sub-branch of the South West Peninsula Ansteys)
- Bampton Ansteys (major sub-branch of the Dulverton Ansteys)
- Washfield Ansteys (major sub-branch of the Dulverton Ansteys)
- Tiverton Ansteys (major sub-branch of the Washfield Ansteys)
- Iddesleigh Ansteys (major sub-branch of the Tiverton Ansteys)
- Bradninch Ansteys (minor sub-branch of the Tiverton Ansteys)
- Filleigh Ansteys (minor sub-branch of the Iddesleigh Ansteys)
- Milverton Ansteys (minor sub-branch of the Dulverton Ansteys)
- Monkokehampton Ansteys (minor sub-branch of the Iddesleigh Ansteys)
- Otterton Ansteys (minor sub-branch of the Bampton Ansteys)
- Witheridge Ansteys (minor sub-branch of the Tiverton Ansteys)
- Sussex Ansteys:
- Warwickshire:
- Coventry Ansteys (minor sub-branch)
- Hampton in Arden Ansteys (minor sub-branch)
- Wiltshire:
- Bromham Ansteys (principal sub-branch of the Wiltshire Ansteys)
- Devizes Ansties (major sub-branch of the Bromham Ansteys)
- Ansteys Evolved From Other Surnames:
- Castle Cary Ansteys (minor sub-branch of an Austin family)
- Chulmleigh Ansteys (minor sub-branch of an Anstis family)
- Devonport Ansteys (minor sub-branch of an Anstis family)
- Exminster Ansteys (minor sub-branch of an Anstis family)
- Witheridge Ansteys (minor sub-branch of the Chulmleigh Ansteys)
[Note: certain places appear more than once in the above list, as they have more than one completely distinct and unconnected ‘Anstey’, Ansty’, ‘Anstee’ or ‘Anstie’ sub-branch emanating from them. For example Witheridge in Devon had both a South West Peninsula Anstey sub-branch of the Tiverton Ansteys, as well as an ‘Anstey evolved from Anstis‘ sub-branch of the Chulmleigh Ansteys, living there alongside each other at the same time.]
In How Can You Help? we make the following appeal:
Are you an expert on a specific ‘Anstey’, Ansty’, ‘Anstee’ and ‘Anstie’ sub-branch? Have you researched the ‘Anstey’, Ansty’, ‘Anstee’ and ‘Anstie’ line back in time, ideally to the 1700s or before, and are looking to try and definitively connect it to the known Anstey pedigree stretching back to Hubert de Anstey in 1143? If so, we would be very pleased to hear from you – please get in touch with us at research@theansteystory.com.
As and when we hear from experts in their respective ‘Anstey’, Ansty’, ‘Anstee’ and ‘Anstie’ sub-branches, we would be delighted to add their sub-branch research to the Anstey Story project.
