11. Benjamin and Elizabeth Mousley of Staffordshire

Mousley is a habitational name: perhaps in our case from Moseley in Wolverhampton (derived in Old English from the name Moll) or Moseley in Birmingham  (derived from the Old English for mouse) which are roughly equidistant from the late C17-18 home of our family in the Clifton Campville/Chilcote area (including Campville House). There are many variants of spelling but we can be confident that we are not closely related to the famous fascist. [Update: Howard Lunn whose mother was born Mousley tells me that the name is pronounced 'Mouzley' starting as in 'mouse'.]

Moseley, Wolverhampton is the home of Moseley Old Hall, which is now in the care of the National Trust. In 1651 King Charles I hid there after defeat at the Battle of Worcester, which is roughly when our earliest known ancestor, Benjamin's 3rd gt-grandfather, was born, 25 miles away across the county.

Clifton Campville and Chilcote are close to Tamworth, and very close to the border between Staffordshire, Leicestershire, Warwickshire and Derbyshire.

Clifton Campville church (credit)

The Dean name might originally have described people who lived in valleys, or who worked for an ecclesiastical dean. Our family came from the hamlet of Ranton in Stafford. Wright is a trade name; our family came from Derbyshire.

Clifton Campville church (credit)

For the record, and with the usual cautions, my oldest direct ancestors we know about in this part of the family are: William Mousley (1662), Elizabeth Humphreyson (1694), Ann Lees (1726), Major Dean (1720), Samuel Wright (1764) and Judith Stenson (1764).

Benjamin (1778, Chilcote) was the son of Benjamin and Ann (née Dean). He married Elizabeth Wright (c 1782, Derby) in Barrow upon Trent in 1803. They had five children in Chilcote:

• 38.1.1 - Samuel Wright Mousley (1805)
• 38.1.2 - Mary Ann Mousley (1806)
• 38.1.3 - Thomas Mousley (1808)
• 38.1.4 - George Mousley (1812)
• 38.1.5 - Elizabeth Mousley (1822)

There is more on these individuals in Chapter 38.

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