Ernle FamHist

ERNLE Family History (including variants spellings of the surname)

Search this page by using the Control-F function.

Family Name: ERNLE (pronounced Earn'-lee, i.e. with the stress falling on the first syllable).

This surname is thought to be extinct in the male line in England and elsewhere in the British Isles, though it may survive in the United States under the form EARNLEY, though the precise filiation of the American family, which has been traced back to the 18th century in Berkshire, whence it emigrated first to British North America (now Canada) in the 19th century, and thence to the U.S., has yet to be established. Unrelated to this possible overseas survival of the Sussex surname, a distaff line of descendants of the Wiltshire branch of the Sussex manorial family revived the surname in the twentieth century after the lapse of over a century in use following the death of the last known male of the sib to bear the surname in male line descent, the Rev. Dr (and possibly Sir) Edward ERNLE, rector of Avington, Berkshire, who died unmarried and childless in 1787, survived by his spinster sister, known as Madam ERNLE, until her death in 1793 whereupon the surname died out in the connected line begun at Earnley, Sussex, circa 1166. The revivor of the name was Lady DUNSANY, otherwise the Rt Hon. Ernle Elizabeth Louisa Maria Grosvenor ERNLE-ERLE-DRAX, wife of the Rt Hon. John William PLUNKETT, 17th Baron of DUNSANY. Lady DUNSANY, née Ernle Elizabeth Louisa Maria Grosvenor BURTON (1855–1916), was doubly descended, both times in the female line, from members of the Wiltshire ERNLE family. This surname revival occurred in 1916 after authorisation by Royal Licence and allowed the second and only younger son of the DUNSANY-BURTON marriage to bear the surname his mother had adopted in 1916 appended to his paternal surname as PLUNKETT-ERNLE-ERLE-DRAX. The first bearer of this surname was Admiral The Honourable Sir Reginald Aylmer Ranfurly PLUNKETT-ERNLE-ERLE-DRAX (d. 1967), of Charborough (Charborough House, Charborough Park), Dorset, whose eldest patrilineal grandson is the present head of this landed family, and the current Westminster M.P., Capt. Richard Grosvenor PLUNKETT-ERNLE-ERLE-DRAX (b. 1958), more usually known as Richard DRAX, M.P. (Conservative, South Dorset, 2010-date)[1]

Via this revival the otherwise extinct family of ERNLE retains a present-day bearer and representation among the traditional ruling classes of the country where the name came into existence over 850 years, or nine centuries, since its first creation, possibly as an offshoot of the even older de LANGINGES family, feudal lords of the manor of Lancing, Sussex, whence they, in turn, derived their surname.

Name Variants: various variant forms of the surname appear starting with the letters A, E, I, O, U, Y, and H, and including EARNLE, EARNLEE, EARNLEY, EARNLIE, EARNLY, EARNLYE, ERNELE, ERNELEY, ERNLE, ERNLEY, ERNLIE, HURNLEY, YERNLE, YERNLEY, etc. Occasionally, the medial n is dropped in references to known members of this sib which can be the source of confusion with people bearing similar surnames with a separate genealogical origin and family history. Only painstakingly-acquired knowledge of the ramifications of the ERNLE family and careful study of the context of every instance where this occurs make it possible to discern such instances of n-dropping forms which nonetheless refer to members of this family rather than an unrelated one with a similar surname whose spelling may occasionally overlap with the form used in an individual reference or multiple ones when concerning a member of what is more usually denoted by an ERNLE variant including the medial n.

N.B. Not all variants listed above necessarily occur in the AALT and its WAALT, but have been encountered in over twenty years of research into this family by the main researcher and writer of this page, named below. It should be noted that, as a locative surname derived from the name of a place where the person originally denominated with the name as a surname was a landholder, the surname was originally prefixed by the French preposition, de, meaning of and denoting residence, possession, or association, which is sometimes known as the noble particle (particule de la noblesse). This locative prefix began to be dropped after the first few centuries of use leaving only the main element of this surname which is derived from two Anglo-Saxon elements forming the original Sussex place name which gave rise to this particular family, apparently the only one know by the name ERNLE (or variant) consistently over a number of centuries in the British Isles.

For the German surname spelt similarly, there is a different, though possibly related etymological derivation, and, it should go without saying, that it is a genealogically distinct surname unrelated to that which developed in the England of the 12th century. Occasional instances of confusion between similar surnames found in the British Isles, including Ireland and Scotland, may arise from similar Anglo-Saxon word elements elsewhere having given rise to other families with a similar surname. This can be seen to have occurred with the surname now usually spelt ERLE (by chance now listed adjacent to ERNLE in a modern quadruple-barrelled surname), derived from Maiden Earley (once Earnley) in Berkshire, which began as de ERLEY (and variants) and was the surname of a family of knightly rank which gave rise to a much more extensive sib than did the Sussex family named ERNLE, discussed here. Its original members belonged to the minor or lower feudal nobility. They rarely achieved knightly rank in their first few centuries. Their otherwise untitled head was seated on manorial estates at Earnley, on the Sussex coast, near Chichester, and in its neighbouring parishes, including Sidlesham, and East Wittering. For more on this, please consult the article initiated by the present page manager and largely written by him at [2]. (Commentary by Richard Carruthers-Żurowski, 25 July 2022Richard Carruthers-Zurowski (talk) 22:36, 25 July 2022 (UTC)).

Managing Page Editor: RC: Richard Carruthers-Żurowski leliwite at gmail dot com (convert email element substitutions and elide all into one string before using this email address), who welcomes correspondence on this topic. Other contributors:

Twelfth Century

• Name
  • AALT document

Comments External citations

Thirteenth Century

• Name
  • AALT document

Comments External citations

Fourteenth Century

• Name
  • AALT document

Comments: External citations

• Name
  • AALT document

Comments External citations

Fifteenth Century

• John ERNELE, gentleman, of Bourton, Bishop's Cannings, Wilts., kinsman of Thomas WERSTON (variant of modern, WROUGHTON)
  • 1432. Wilts. Ernele, John, kinsman of Werston, Thomas, son of Isabel, widow of Werston, William v. Werston, Isabel, widow of Werston, John; Robert, vicar of Wermestre (Warminster); Crekkelade (Cricklade), Thomas; Crekkelade (Cricklade), Nicholas; Forde (Ford), Robert; Clyve (Clive), John. Land [3] (2nd item from the bottom of the roll)
  • 1432. Wilts. Worston, John v. Ernele, John, of Burton juxta Bishops Canynggys (i.e. Burton otherwise Bourton {a tithing} next to Bishop's Cannings, Wilts.), gent.

Comments John ERNELE appears in these Chancery pleas in association with his kinsman Thomas WERSTON (otherwise WERFSTON, WORFTON, WORSTON, etc., modern WROUGHTON) who belonged to a Wiltshire gentry family with parliamentary associations, and John WORSTON who was possibly identical with the deceased John WERSTON of the first plea, who must have been related to ERNELE's kinsman Thomas WERSTON. The further elucidation of these two suits may be the key to uncovering the earlier filiation of the ERNLE family and how it became associated with Wiltshire after its long association almost exclusively with Sussex. This kinship may derive from a common descent on the distaff side involving the intermarriage of perhaps a widow (Isabella NN) who was mother to both John ERNELE and his kinsman Thomas WERSTON. Other possible families which may figure in this connexion include those of BURDON and THORPE, both of which are associated with WROUGHTON (and variants), and the inheritance of the lands and advowsons of Poulshot and Yatesbury, Wiltshire, whose passage from them to the ERNLE sib is as yet unexplained by the accounts of the manors of these places listed in the Victoria History of the County of Wiltshire, but whose complicated and hitherto long obscured lines of descent could be unravelled by the discovery of the further details of these cases. (see History of Parliament biographies listed below for more on the interconnexions between these and other families which may help sort out the ERNLE pedigree's lacunae and serve to shed light on each other's filiations and ramifications.) External citations History of Parliament biographies online which may be relevant to these related Chancery suits and help shed light on the parties to them: William WORFTON (ca1366-1408), of Broad Hinton, Wilts., M.P. (Wilts., 1404)[4] Thomas BEAUPYNE (d. 1404), of Bristol, M.P. (Bristol, six times, and Somerset, once)[5] Henry THORPE (d. 1416), of Boscombe, Wilts., M.P. (Wilts., 1411)[6] Victoria History of the County of Wiltshire accounts of parishes of relevance to these two suits: Poulshot, Wiltshire, including manorial descents involving the BURDON, WORFTON, THORP, ERNLEY [7] Yatesbury, Wiltshire, including the descent of Westcourt manor involving BURDEN, WORSTON, THORP, ERNESLEY (sic), and ERNLE [8]

• William ERNELEY of Arundel, Sussex
  • 1458. Wilts. Thomas Clotte/Slotte v. William, earl of Arundell (Arundel); John Dudley de Dudley, Staffs, knight; Thomas Barette (Barrett) de Arundel, Sussex, armiger; and William Erneley de Arundel, Sussex, armiger. Trespass: jury in respite[9]; [10]
  • 1458. Sussex. William Ernele, armiger v. John Nudegate (Newdigate) de Cranley (Cranleigh), Surrey. Debt for £13/6/8; early process. [11]

Comments William ERNELEY appears thus far only in 1458, with his residence in Arundel, Sussex. He was, from the case of trespass above, plausibly associated with William FITZALAN, 9th Earl of Arundel (of the 2nd creation, reigned 1438-1487), and Sir John DUDLEY (also known as SUTTON), Knt, of Dudley, Staffordshire. ERNELEY's appearance together as a defendant in a plea with DUDLEY is perhaps an early example of what later came to be a closer association of a member of the ERNLE family with that of DUDLEY which can be seen some forty years later in the early career of later Tudor solicitor-general, attorney-general, and lord chief justice of the Court of Common Pleas (cjcp)(1519-1520), Sir John ERNLE, Knt. As a young man, John ERNLE (1464/65-1520) began his legal practice as a Gray's Inn lawyer and associate of one of the notorious financial agents of King Henry VII, Edmund DUDLEY (exec. 1510), but ERNLE survived his patron's fall to rise in royal favour as a legal advisor and agent to Henry VII's son and successor, King Henry VIII. See the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, under Sir John ERNLEY (1464/5-1520), for more on this later connexion. External citations

Sixteenth Century

• Name
  • AALT document

Comments External citations

Seventeenth Century

• Name
  • AALT document

Comments External citations

Eighteenth Century

• Name
  • AALT document

Comments External citations