The UK list below – incomplete though it appears to be – certainly indicates that during the past 500 years the surname Simnel(l) was never common in England. But it was by no means unknown. To offer a statistical comparison, similar searches over the same time period were conducted, relating to three of the rarer surnames which figure in my own ancestry. These produced the following figures:
SEVIL
approximately 470 entries.3
BAULSOM
approximately 280 entries.4
MINEVEH
only 16 entries.5 (However, Mineveh is very rare because it is a rather idiosyncratic variant of the slightly less rarified surname Minifie.)
There certainly are living individuals in the UK bearing the surnames Sevil and Baulsom. Therefore it is not completely impossible that living Simnel(l)s also still exist somewhere.
If there are any living males who bear the hereditary surname Simnel(l), I should be delighted to hear from them. It would be interesting to explore whether there is an identifiable Simnel(l) Y-chromosome. In other words do/did the bearers of this surname represent a single family? It would also be very interesting to be able to compare the Simnel(l) Y-chromosome(s) with the Plantagenet Y-chromosome!
Simnell, ?
buried 1645, Hampton, Middx
Simnell, unnamed male
d. 1869, Burton-upon-Trent, Staffs
Simnell, Abigail
buried 1695, St Ives, Huntingdonshire
Simnell, Agnes
buried 1641, Ramsey, Huntingdonshire
Simnell, Alce
married 1570, Boxsted, Essex
Simnell, Alce
buried 1630, St Ives, Huntingdonshire
Simnell, Alce
married 1639, St Ives, Huntingdonshire
Simnell, Alce
married 1797, Manchester, Lancs
Simnell, Alece
buried 1588, Bradwell-on-Sea, Essex
Simnell, Ann
bapt. 1633, Hayes, Middx.
Simnell, Ann
buried 1685, Holy Trinity, Cambridge
Simnel, Anna
married 1645, Hurworth, Durham
Simnell, Anne
married 1632, St Benet, Paul’s Wharf, London
Simnell, Anne
living London, 1661
Simnell, Anne
living London, 1676
Simnel, Anne
buried 1749, Burslem, Staffs
Simnell, Audrey T.
married 1944, Lichfield, Staffs
Simnel, Clement
buried 1735, St Ives, Huntingdonshire
Simnell, Dorothy
married 1635, St Martin, Ludgate, London
Simnell, Edward T.
married 1944, Wenlock, Shropshire
Simnel, Eliza
b. 1854, Stafford – still living 1871
Simnel, Eliza Jane
bapt. 1861, Eastchurch, Kent
Simnell, Elizabeth
buried 1615, Ipswich, Suffolk
Simnell, Elizabeth
bapt. 1631, Hayes, Middx.
Simnell, Elizabeth
buried 1631, St Ives, Huntingdonshire
Simnell, Elizabeth
buried 1643, Acton Middx.
Simnell, Elizabeth
buried 1682, St Ives, Huntingdonshire
Simnel, Elizabeth
bapt. 1737, Mold, Flintshire
Simnel, Elizabeth
buried 1739, St Ives, Huntingdonshire
Simnel, Elizth Hanh
bapt. 1820, Plymouth, Devon
Simnel, Elizabeth
b. 1830 – buried 1831, Wolstanton, Staffs
Simnell, Elizabeth
d. 1895, Bangor, Caernarvonshire
Simnell, Elizth
b. 1877, living 1881, Cannock, Staffs
Simnell, Elz
married 1603, Westminster, Middx
Simnell, Elz
married 1626, St Giles in the Fields, Holborn, London
Simnell, Emily
b. 1856, living 1881, Nottingham, Notts
Simnell, George Charles
married 1886, Burton-upon-Trent, Staffs
Simnell, Hannah
married 1869, Burton-upon-Trent, Staffs
Simnell, Henry
buried 1641, Ramsey, Huntingdonshire
Simnell, Hernicus [sic]
buried 1626, St Ives, Huntingdonshire
Simnel, Henry
married 1899, Burton-upon-Trent, Staffs
Simnell, James
buried 1641, St Ives, Huntingdonshire
Simnell, Jane
married 1666, St Aug. & St Faith, London
Simnel, Jane
b. 1860 – still living 1881 London, St Giles
Simnel, Joan
married 1594, St Margaret, Westminster
Simnel, Joan
married 1615, St Clement, Ipswich, Suffolk
Simnell, Joan(e)
married 1624, St Margaret, Westminster
Simnell, Johannes
buried 1635, St Ives, Huntingdonshire
Simnel, John
married 1576, St Margaret, Westminster
Simnell, John
bapt. 1577, St Margaret, Westminster
Simnell, John
married 1598, Westminster, Middx
Simnell, John
married 1610, St Margaret, Westminster
Simnell, John
buried 1612, St Margaret, Westminster
Simnel, John
buried 1613, Westminster, Middx
Simnell, John
b. 1857, living 1881, Derby, Derbyshire
Simnell, Joseph
b. 1835, living 1881, Derby, Derbyshire
Simnell, Joseph
married 1883, Burton-upon-Trent, Staffs
Simnell, J.H. (male)
b. 1887, left Liverpoool for Boston, USA, 1912
Simnel, M.
bapt. 1759, Neston, Cheshire
Simnel, Margaret
married 1613, St Clement, Ipswich, Suffolk
Simnell, Mary
married 1657, St Ives, Huntingdonshire
Simnell, Mary
buried 1667, St Ives, Huntingdonshire
Simnel, Mary
buried 1739, Maidstone, Kent
Simnell, Mary
b. 1809, living 1881, Liverpool, Lancs
Simnell, Mary
b. 1811, living 1901, Worcester, Worcs
Simnell, Mary
b. 1823, living 1851, Shoreditch, Middx
Simnell, Maureen
d. 1993, Ogwr, Glamorganshire
Simnel, Michael
married 1589, St Margaret, Westminster
Simnell, Micheall [sic]
buried 1593, St Margaret, Westminster
Simnel, Michael
buried 1594, Westminster, Middx
Simnell, Nancy
b. 1773, living 1851, Newington, Surrey
Simnel, Philip Stephen
b. 1966, East Ham, Essex
Simnell, Phoebe
b. 1833, living 1881, Derby, Derbyshire
Simnell, Richard
married 1567, Chelmsford, Essex
Simnel, Richard
buried 1630, St Ives, Huntingdonshire
Simnell, Richard
married 1642, St Bartholomew the Great, London
Simnell, Richard
buried 1667, St Ives, Huntingdonshire
Simnel, Richard
b. 1826, Stafford – still living 1871
Simnell, Rose
married 1698, Holywell-cum-Needingworth, Huntingdonshire
Simnell, Samuel
bapt. 1855, Bebington, Cheshire
Simnell, Samuel Thomas
b. 1901, Loughborough, Leics
Simnell, Sara
buried 1626, St Ives, Huntingdonshire
Simnel, Sara
buried 1638, St Ives, Huntingdonshire
Simnell, Sarah
b. 1691, buried 1776, London
Simnel, Thomas
buried 1620, Westminster, Middx
Simnel, Thomas
married 1629, Heston, Middx
Simnell, Thomas
buried 1630, St Ives, Huntingdonshire
Simnel, Thomas
married 1632, London
Simnel(l), Thomas
married 1645, Hurworth, Durham
Simnell, Thomas
buried 1666, Somersham, Huntingdonshire
Simnel, Thomas
bapt. 1722, St Clement Danes, Middx
Simnel, Thomas
buried 1723, St Clement Danes, Middx
Simnel, Thomas
bapt. 1723, St Clement Danes, Middx
Simnell, Thomas Frederick
b. 1858, Wolverhampton, Staffs.
Simnel, William
married 1588, Bures, Suffolk
Simnell, William
married 1590, Bradwell-on-Sea, Essex
Simnell, William
married 1643, St Peter, Cambridge, Cambs
Simnell, William
married 1686, Whittlesford, Cambs
Simnel, William
married 1695, St Ives, Huntingdonshire
Simnel, William
buried 1757, Neston, Cheshire
Simnel, William
bapt. 1759, Neston, Cheshire
Simnell, William
b. 1838, living 1911, Birmingham, Warks
Map showing locations in England and Wales in which occurrences of the surname SIMNEL have been documented over the last 500 years.
Notes
Abbreviations
CPR
Calendar of Patent Rolls
ODNB
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
PROME
Parliament Rolls of Medieval England
1. http://www.findmypast.co.uk, accessed January 2014, and searched under the surnames Simnel and Simnell.
2. http://search.findmypast.com.au/search/australia-and-new-zealand-records?lastname=simnel&lastname_variants=true&page=10, accessed January 2014. I am grateful to Olga Hughes for her help with this.
3. http://www.findmypast.co.uk/search/all-records/results?forename=&includeForenameVariants=true&_includeForenameVariants
=on&surname=Sevil&_includeSurnameVariants=on&f, accessed January 2014.
4. http://www.findmypast.co.uk/search/all-records/results?forename=&includeForenameVariants=true&_includeForenameVariants=
on&surname=Baulsom&_includeSurnameVariants
=on&fromYear=&toYear=&Region=UK&Search=Search, accessed January 2014.
5. http://www.findmypast.co.uk/search/all-records/results?forename=&includeForenameVariants=true&_includeForenameVariants
=on&surname=Mineveh&_includeSurname
Variants=on&fromYear=&toYear=&Region=UK&Search=Search, accessed January 2014.
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The Dublin King: The True Story of Lambert Simnel and the Princes in the Tower Page 27