Tassel - Name

Recorded as Tassell, Tassel, Tossell, Toxell, Tysall, Tasseler and others, this is an English surname. It is medieval and according to the famous Victirian etymologist Canon Charles Bardsley was occupational for a textile worker who scratched cloth with a teasel to make a nap! A recording from the instructions to the freeman of the city of York in about 1460 states that ....' every fuller from the feast of St Peter in his craft and occupation of tayseler of cloth shall use taysels and no cards'....Whilst in the inventory of the estate and will of Edward Kyrkelands of Kendall who died in 1568, we have the recording of 'Tazills, 5s and 8d more in tazills'. Occupational surnames usually only became hereditary when a son followed his father into the same line of business. In this case we havee arly recordings which include Gilbert le Tasselere in the Hundred Rolls of Yorjkshire in 1273, whilst Edward Teasler was a student at Oxford Universitt in 1610. Other recordings include Alice Tassell who married George Kidell at St Benets church in the city of London on August 25th 1624, and Eleanor Toxell who married Peter Mumm at St Martins in the Field, Westminster, on January 1st 1740.