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THE STANSFIELDS

 The Stansfield family are of Norman descent and the founder of the family was Wyon Maryons, who came to England with William the Conqueror (also known as William the bastard) and fought at the Battle Of Hastings in 1066 which was the start of the occupation of England by the Normans. Wyon obtained from King William the lordship of Stansfield in the county of Yorkshire for his help to the king at the battle of Hastings. It appears that he also helped to put down an uprising by the local people against the Norman occupation This uprising was brutally suppressed and a lot of the county of Yorkshire was destroyed and many of the population killed.

Bayeux Tapestry

The Normans are mistakenly believed to be of French origin but were originally of Viking descent. Raids and invasions of the ninth and tenth century led to Scandinavian settlement in many parts of Europe. The Vikings landed in the Orkneys and Northern Scotland about the year 870 A.D., under their King, Stirgud the Stout. Thorfinn Rollo landed in France in 940ad and laid siege to Paris. Rollo became the first Duke of Normandy and converted to Christianity. William the Conqueror was a descendent of Duke Rollo of Normandy. Normandy literally means the 'land of the Northmen'.

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Jordan de Stansfield, the son of Wyon Maryons was also lord of Stansfield and was succeeded down the generations by his son John, then Richard, then Edmond, then Ralph, then Henry, William and then Thomas who lived in the 14th century. His grandson Thomas obtained Heptonstall in 1508 and his grandson acquired Sowerby in 1587. As was often the case in those days, people took their names from the place where they lived and often the word "de" (of or from) was inserted between their first name and the place name. Eventually the de was dropped and the place name became the surname.

The name of Stansfield of which there were about 40 variations of spelling came from stony-field  and in the Calder Valley where the Stansfields lived, there are certainly plenty of stones around.

The township of Stansfield in the valley of Todmorden has neolithic sites such as The Hawkstones and The Bride Stone etc. The Bride Stone consists of one upright stone or pillar, called the Bride, which has a height of about five metres, a diameter of about three metres and the pedestal is about half a metre diameter.Near this stood another large stone called The Groom which prior to 1823 had been pulled down by the locals. Not far away on the old Common are many large and small rocks scattered about which Dr. Stukeley an antiquarian of the 1700's described as 'something like a temple of the serpentine kind"

See the word "Stan" in Viking Terms for place name orgins

Name Variations

Most of the name variations are now extinct and exist only in the older records but a further list is shown below for interest. Stainefeild, Stainesfeld, Stainsfeld,Stainesfeud, Stamfeild, Stampfeild, Stancefeild, Stancefeld, Standfield, Stanesfeld, Stanesfield, Stanfill, Stanphill, Stansfeild and quite a few others which died out long ago. In earlier days, those who could write were few and far between and the names were written as they sounded which resulted in all the variations with regional accents also making a difference in the way the name was recorded. The main variations are now Stanfield, Stansfeld, Stanfill and Stanphill. Until 1689 the name had been spelt Stansfield but the first entry in the Heptonstall register to show the change to Stanfield was the baptism in February of a John Stanfield and the October burial of a Martha Stanfield on December 20 1692 and from that time on the name was spelt in the latter manner.

King William took a census of most of England in 1086, and recorded it in the Domesday Book. A family name capable of being traced back to this manuscript, or to Hastings, was a signal honour for most families during the middle ages, and even to this day.

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Burke's General Armory gives the arms for these Lines:

 Stansfield, of Stansfield in Yorkshire; represented by Stansfeld of New Cross, County of Surry, bears for arms, Sable, Three Goats Trippant, Argent. Crest: A Demi Lion Rampant Argent. Stansfeld, of Burley in Yorkshire; a branch of Stansfeld of Stansfield, representing a quartering of Walrich, of County of Suffolk, bears for arms, 1st and 4th, the same as the armament for Stansfeld of Stansfield; 2nd and 3rd, Azure, a Chevron between three Swans Wings Elevated, Argent, for Walrich. Crest: same as the preceeding. Stansfield, of Esholt in Yorkshire; a branch of the preceeding families. William Rookes Crompton,Esq., took the Name and Arms of Stansfield, pursuant to the Will of his mother, an Heiress of Stansfield. His younger brother, Samuel Crompton was created a Baronet. Stansfield of Esholt, bears for arms, Quarterly, 1st and 4th, Sable, Three Goats, Passant, Argent, for Stansfield; 2nd, Vert, on a Bend, Argent, a Double Cotised Arm, a Lion Passant Gules, between two Covered Cups Or, on a Chief Azure, three Pheons Or, for Crompton; 3rd, Argent, a Fess, Sable, between three Rooks Proper, for Rookes. Crest: 1st Stansfield, a Lion's Head erased, encircled by a Wreath; 2nd Crompton, a Demi Horse Sable vulned in the chest with an Arrow proper. Stansfield, of Bradford in Yorkshire; bears for arms, Vert, a Chevron between three Goats Passant, Argent. Stansfield, of Lews in the County of Sussex; bears for arms, Vert, three Goats Passant, Argent, Armed Or.

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William, Duke of Normandy, and his troops

Cross-Stone Chappel

The Ancient Descent

 

1st Generation
Wyon Maryon, Lord of Stansfield ¶ came to England in 1066

2nd Generation
Jordan de Stansfield ¶ marr. a dau of sir John Townley of Townley

3rd Generation
John Stansfield ¶ marr. Elizabeth, dau of Thomas Entwhistle
Thomas Stansfield
Robert Stansfield
Oliver Stansfield, Constable of Pontefract Castle

4th Generation
Jane Stansfield marr. Rafe Copley of Copley
Richard Stansfeld ¶ marr. Alice, dau of sir Thomas Tonstal of Thurland Castle

5th Generation
Edmund Stansfield ¶ marr. Agnes, dau of Thomas de Midgley
Robert Stansfield
Hugh Stansfield
Roger Stansfield

6th Generation
Ralph Stansfield ¶ marr. Jane, dau of Thomas Copley of Copley

7th Generation
Henry Stansfield ¶ marr. Doinis, dau of Bryan Thornhill of Thornhill in Yorkshire
Ralph Stansfield
William Stansfield
Joan Stansfield

8th Generation
William Stansfield ¶ marr. Joane, dau of sir John Burton of Kinslow in Yorkshire

9th Generation
Thomas Stansfield ¶ marr. Barbara,dau of John Lascelles of Lascelles Hall in Yorkshire

          built Stansfield Hall at the close of the 14th Century

10th Generation
John Stansfield, Esq of Stansfield Hall ¶ marr. in 1410 Mary, dau of John Fleming of Wathe

11th Generation
Thomas Stansfield, Esq of Stansfeld Hall ¶ marr. Alice, dau of John Saville
Henry Stansfield
Ann Stansfield marr. Thomas Saville, son of Henry Saville
Isabelle Stansfield
Jane Stansfield
Elizabeth Stansfield
Mary Stansfield

12th Generation
William Stansfield, Esq of Stansfeld Hall ¶

          marr. Elizabeth, dau of John Duckenfield of Duckenfield, Cheshire

13th Generation
James Stansfield, Esq of Stansfield Hall, moved in 1536 to Hortshead
Thomas Stansfield of Heptonstall ¶ (will proved in 1508) marr. Blanch ----

14th Generation
Lawrence Stansfield, Esq of Stansfeld Hall
Thomas Stansfield of Sowerby ¶ (d.ca.1537) marr. Alice Mitchell of Heptonstall

15th Generation
Thomas Stansfield (d.ca.1564)
Lawrence Stansfield of Sowerby ¶ (d.ca.1591) marr. Elizabeth ----
Nicholas Stansfield of Wadsworth Royd (will proved in 1587)

16th Generation
Nicholas Stansfield, Esq of Norland ¶ (d.1599) marr. in 1591 at Halifax to Susan Hopkinson

17th Generation
John Stansfield, Esq of Sowerby ¶ (b.1592) marr. in 1612 at Halifax to Martha Bentley

 

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Victorious Normans in battle with the Saxons from the Bayeux Tapestry

  

Note of interest:

 I just came across another spelling of Wyon Maryons, spelled Wyan Marmions (or Marmyns). This gave me a whole new angle and I am conducting an arduous search into this. Ever heard of Maid Marion? I found a site about Robin Hood that mentions a Wyan Marmions that was granted land by William (The Conqueror) in the West Yorkshire area! If you are interested, check out the Robin Hood site. And what is this? Der Fluch von Stanfield Castle  I don't speak German!  ...this really had me going. German Stanfields? Thanks to Altavistas Babel Fish Translation I was able to figure this mystery out with no trouble whatsoever.































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