As the title suggests, the basis of this site is the SAYSELL family, but the  emphasis is on those members who were born in the DERBY area.As you will see,  their 19th century ancestors lived in the London area, but migrated to Derby  as they sought available work.Also, because of marriage, other family names  have become interwoven into the story. At this moment in time they number  about 95 and research into them and the older Saysells is ongoing, as you will  observe from the number of ? marks that appear from time to time. Anyone with  additional information should contact the webmaster, who will be only too  pleased to add, or make amendments to, the details on the site.Photographs  will also be welcomed.
 Let us now consider the origins of the name SAYSELL. Evidence suggests that  the name originated in Herefordshire and the first record of a SAYSELL dates  from the early 13th Century. Between about 1215 and about 1250 a William  SEISIL, variously spelt SEICEL, SEISSILL, SEYSIL and SEYSYL appeared as one of  a number of witnesses to 76 legal documents in the archive of Hereford  Cathedral. He is described as 'Reeve' in some of the earlier documents and  as 'Keeper of the Almshouses of St Ethelbert in the town of Hereford' in some  of the later ones.The way the surname is spelled is very variable, as might be  expected, but all spellings strongly suggest a pronunciation like 'SAYSELL'. Some early records of 'CECIL/SISSEL' type surnames tend to come from  Monmouthshire, West Herefordshire, and parts of Gloucestershire. Records show  that SAYSELL names occur to the east of the region and CECIL/SISSEL names  occur to the west of the region.Authorities consider the SAYSELL name to be  derived either from the Latin CAECILIUS (meaning 'Blind') or SEXTILIUS  (meaning the 'Sixth one'). There was a considerable presence of the Roman Army  in Britain on the Welsh Borders and Marches and plenty of opportunity for  Roman names to become incorporated into use by the local population, after  Roman soldiers finished their term of service in Britain and settled down near  the Roman fortress (e.g. Caerleon) where they had mainly perhaps served, with  a pension and a British wife. Perhaps it is not altogether a coincidence that  the SAYSELL surname appears to have originated in Herefordshire. A more detailed examination of the origins of the name can be read in the  book 'The SAYSELL family: a study' by Alan Heselden, from which the above  details have been extracted (c1999)
 The BEWLEY name is recorded in various forms back to 1332 and the entries  are extracted from the Pedigrees published in 1902 by Sir Edmund Thomas Bewley  in his story of the BEWLEYS OF CUMBERLAND 
 and their IRISH AND OTHER DESCENDANTS.
 Sir Thomas established that a De Beaulieu was a member of the retinue of Philippa of Hainault  when she married King Edward 111 at York on 24 January 1328. Queen Philippa bestowed lands  in Cumberland and Yorkshire on a de Beaulieu and at about the same time the name de Beaulieu  made its first appearance in Cumberland. In 1332 a Thomas de Beaulieu of Thistlethuaite and  Roger de Beaulieu of Blencarn were nominated as collectors of taxes in an Act of Parliament. Jane Bewley , who married Robert Cooke in Dublin in 1818, was descended from  Thomas de Beaulieu and the family name Bewley has been carried by members of the Cooke family  since that marriage.
Another interesting discovery in recent (2023) times is the Welsh connection to the Saysell’s via the marriage of Albert SAYSELL to Dorothy Frearson whose mother was Louisa Lloyd . The LLOYD ancestry can be followed back to Brochwell Ysgythrog , King of Powys (b c820) who was born near Welshpool .
The amazing thing is that the family of PETER LLOYD also traces its ancestry back to the same King of Powys. There is now doubt about this connection because it seems that John Lloyd b 1661 may not be the son of William Lloyd 1637-1710 .