CHAPTER ONE Origin of the Trussells Billesley Manor Introduction       Mostly through correspondence with other members of the Trussell Family, I’ve been able to trace my Dad’s branch of the family back to the marriage of Henry Trussell and Martha Ring in Salisbury, MA in 1688. Beyond that I have several sources of interesting, but conflicting or incomplete information.  There is a short history of the Trussell family written by Luther Trussell, the son of Dad’s great, great, great Uncle Moses Trussell.  Luther's story isn't quite accurate on all the facts we know [he skips at least one generation], but some likely facts are that the family originated in Liverpool, England, the family was associated with shipping, and the first Trussell to come to the Colonies was taken to America to be an indentured servant.  There are records of earlier Henry Trussells in the colonies.  One Henry Trussell paid taxes in Salisbury, MA in 1640, and another (or the same)  Henry T. who testified at a trial in Amesbury, MA in 1662.  Most Trussell family genealogists show these Trussell's as related to our line, but the relationships are not consistently shown from one account to the next, and I have not been able to straighten the matter out. One account portrays the Trussells in the U.S. as beginning from two sons of a merchant in Liverpool, England; a certain Henry T. who settled in Salem sometime before 1640 and another  John T. who settled in Virginia in about 1620.  It seems reasonable that the Henry T. who married Martha Ring was related to the Henry T. in Salisbury in 1640 and in Amesbury in 1662.  Trussell has never been a common surname. Ancient Europe.       Ron Trussell, from Lewes, England indicates that the surname Troussel originated in Italy in Roman times (390 b.c.) and came to England from France. He further indicates he has clear details of how the name originated in France. David Trussell of New York relates a similar and interesting story that the first “Troussel” was Charlemagne’s treasure and that “Troussel” was actually his title and an old French word for “man who kept the money of the King”.  David goes on to indicate that the “modern” version of the family originated in Brai, near Rouen, Normandy where Buillaume de Brai, “Troussel”, married Litheuil, Vicomtesse de Troyes. David indicates that “the business of handling the King’s money was apparently carried on for a great time, as we find the tradition carried on as late as 1300”. England and Billesley       Perhaps the most common account as to how the Trussells came to England is that the family assisted William the Conqueror in his conquest of England and received certain properties in return for their help.It’s possible they provided financial help and it’s also possible they were directly involved in the fighting as the English Trussells show a propensity for this later in history. The story of a French connection rings true because the Trussells often returned to Normandy when they needed a respite from their struggles in England.       Probably the single estate with the strongest association with the Trussells is Billesley, an estate located about a kilometer west of Stratford-upon-Avon on Roman Road. According to some accounts, William Trussell, a Norman, came to control the estate through a direct grant from William I. Another account, reports that a Norman named Hugh de Grantmesnil was granted the estate by William and that Osbert Trussell retained control of the manor in 1158, 92 years later, through his relationship with the Earl of Warwick. All sources I’ve found seem to agree that the Trussells maintained more or less continuous control for several centuries. Once the Trussells retained control, they re-christened the estate and associated village "Billesley Trussell".      Nearby Stratford-upon-Avon was William Shakepeare’s Birthplace and rumor has it that Shakespeare often visited Billesley to use the library and that he wrote, “As You Like It”, at Billesley Hall. It is certain that his grand-daughter, Elizabeth Nash, married her second husband there.  Today Billesley is owned by Queens Moat Houses and it is a Luxury Country House Hotel, called, “Billesley Manor” with forty-two rooms available to the public.      According to materials distributed by the Hotel, the Trussells, “... came of yeoman stock.  Born fighters, they gained -- and kept -- land with the help of a sinewy sword-arm and an unswerving belief that might is right.” Exploits of the Billesley Trussells       There is an interesting history of the Billesley Trussells and their exploits as they struggled with the English More on Billesley Manor Monarchy for four centuries and finally lost. Osbert’s grandson was part of a contingent of English Barons that captured London in June 1215 and coerced King John into signing the Magna Carta. John did not really plan to honor the agreement signed at Runnymde but viewed it as means of buying time, but he died the next year and was replaced by his nine year old son, Henry III and a minority council that governed in his name. Apparently Trussell was forced to forfeit the estate because of his earlier activities, but other members of his family gained control.       When Henry III became of age, he continued to struggle with the Barons, Trussells included. Simon de Montfort, Earl of Lancaster and “the father of parliamentary democracy”, lead a rebellion, which the Trussells supported. Montfort and the barons argued that the King should use England’s own Barons as his advisers instead of choosing his own friends. In 1264, Montfort won the battle of Lewes, but a year later, in 1265, he was defeated, with William Trussell at his side, at the Battle of Evesham. It was the King’s son Edward who won that battle and now Edward rose to the throne and Billesley was again forfeighted.       Soon enough, though, we find Billesley in the hands of another William Trussell, another enemy of the monarchy. Eventually Edward I, the victor at Evesham victory, and was succeeded by Edward II. King Edward II was one of the dark chapters in English history. His father, Edward I, had finally subdued Wales and had begun an effort to subdue the Scots as well. Edward II, on the other hand, was ineffective and corrupt. By 1314 he had lost the Scots and in 1327 he was eventually deposed, bundled away into a dungeon in Gloucestershire and killed, one of England’s less impressive monarchs. One of Edward II’s first moves was to appoint Piers Gavston, a boyhood homosexual friend to the court, as his closest advisor. Gavston had been expelled from the Royal Court by Edward I. In the year 1312, Trussell, working with Guy Beauchamp, the Earl of Warwick, seized Gavston at Doddington Castle in Oxfordshire and carried him off to be beheaded.       Later on, Hugh Despenser became the dominant figure at the king’s court. Despenser was ambitious and greedy. A coalition of Marcher Lords determined to stop Despenser’s rise was formed, led by the Earle of Hereford and supported by Thomas of Lancaster, among others. In 1319 later Trussell and his sons took up arms against Despenser and in support of Lancaster and Hereford. Numerous battles took place, but the Lancasterian forces were decisively defeated at the Battle of Boroughbridge in 1322 and Lancaster was executed. Following the defeat Trussell made himself scarce, first hiding out at Somerset with like-minded friends and eventually visiting relatives in France. This time he didn’t hide long and, by 1326, he was back in England at Kenilworth Castle, again serving the Earl of Lancaster with the support of Isabella and Mortimer, presiding at the trial of Hugh Despenser, the father of his old enemy, whom he sentenced to death.  The sentence was carried out with great brutality and the elder Despenser’s head was placed on London Bridge amidst general rejoicing. The Earl of Lancaster and his supporters, especially Trussell, acquired many lands that belonged to the crown at the time.       In 1327, as Sir William Trussell, he headed the delegation of Parliament that informed King Edward II that his subjects were renouncing homage.  Apparently Trussell still managed to curry the favor of Edward’s son, Edward III as this King appointed Sir William as his ambassador to Aragon, Portugal, and Majorca and he served this Edward faithfully. Trussell was still residing at Billesley when he passed away in 1345. Though he did live at Billesley all his life apparently he didn’t own it. It was instead owned by one of his relatives, another Sir William Trussell who, also a supporter of the Lancasters, served with Edward III’s son, the Black Prince in his efforts to defeat the French at Gascony, particularly the unexpected victory at Poitiers in 1356.It is well known that the Prince granted lands, offices and annuities to those who helped him win that victory. Coat of Arms     There were also Trussells who were members of the Royal Admiralty and a certain John Trussell wrote a history of England. At one time, the Trussells had manors not only at Billesley, but also at Walton, Cubbington, Marston-Trussell, Whitchurch, Hales, and Acton-Trussell. The first four were all near Stratford-up-Avon and the latter three are north and east of Birmingham. There is also a fairly common chart by the Harlean Society that goes back to the time of the 1300’s. The Fall of the Billesley Trussells       For more than 400 years, Billesley was the center of action for the Trussells. Today, it has been preserved as an upscale hotel and can be visited and certain Trussell lore, observed there. Legend has it that William Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway at All Saints Church, located on the Billesley Estate. Things went along swimmingly for the Trussells until in 1361, when the black death decimated the village on the estate. Legend has it that one of the Trussell man servants brought the plague to the village when he stole a coat from his master, who had died of the affliction in London, and brought it back to the village with him. Following the black death, Billesley lacked the manpower to continue farming, so they enclosed their land and devoted themselvesto the raising of sheep. It seems not to have been a very prosperous activity because by 1515, during the minority of Sir Avery Trussell, Billesley Hall had fallen into a sad state of disrepair.       The Trussells chose the wrong side at the very end of the War of the Roses where Henry VII (Henry Tudor) defeated the Yorks at Bosworth Field in 1485. This time they had challenged the wrong monarchy and, as a result, the family did not fare quite so well in Tudor England. By 1588, Trussell influence had deteriorated to the point where Sir Thomas Trussell, the proprietor of the Billesley Estate was arrested, convicted of Highway Robbery, and sentenced to death .. and his property confiscated by the Crown.       In 1592 Billesley was purchased by Sir Robert Lee, a Trussell relative who later became Mayor of London.  Sir Robert is said to have substantially rehabilitated the estate for the use of a beautiful mistress he kept there.      Ironically, Thomas’ first cousin once-removed was a “Henery Trussell” who married Sara Kettlewood in London in the year 1572, sixteen years before the disaster at Billesley. Some have speculated that it was this “Henery” or his son, who moved to Liverpool to become a merchant, who bore a son who became a captain of the Royal Navy and whose grandson became the first Trussell to settle in the New England Colonies. An Overview of the Trussell Family History to this point in time. Back to Index