Hurstelbury

[LizzieL]

On the 1851 census one of my ancestors has given his place of birth as Hurstelbury in Hampshire. Does anyone know where this might be? In 1851 he was living in Hound with his family. In 1861 he gave pob as Winchester and had moved to Chewton near Milton. I think Hurstelbury is more likely to be near Winchester. 

[TomRees]

Interesting that in 1851 Hound, theres 3 chaps with that PoB !

May be HURSLEY (not likely to be a misheard Hurstbourne etc?)

http://southernlife.org.uk/hampshire_index.htm

[KGarrad]

3 choices!

Isaac Strong - Reference HO107, Piece 1670, Folio 60, page 19
James Purkes - HO107, 1670, 51, 1
Robert Elkins - HO107, 1670, 73, 45

[LizzieL]

Thanks, James Purkes is my ancestor. I hadn't come across anyone else with the same POB. May be it's a small place near Hound, if there are two others from Hurstelbury in that same village.

[dee-jay]

My first instinct is that this place name may be a distortion of Owslebury - locally pronounced as "Usslebury"?

Update:  Corrected 'typo'!  I get mixed up with placement of the 's' in this one and Alresford - locally pronounced as Awlsford!

[LizzieL]

I think Owslebury is a strong possibility. I have just checked the pob of Robert Elkins in 1861 census (one of the people who was listed as Hurstelbury in 1851) and that is Owslebury.

[dee-jay]

It would also be worth checking out Twyford, which is in very close proximity.

[Little Nell]

Going with James Purkes born approx 1798 (from 1851 census info), the closest I can find is James Purkess baptised 2 Apr 1797 in Eling, parents James & Sarah.

Looking at old maps gives me no clues in that area 

Isaac Strong was baptised in Twyford

Nell

[dee-jay]

Mmmm - this is quite puzzling because James & Elizabeth were making an effort to have their children baptized at Hound whilst they were based at Thornhill Farm, Shamblehurst, South Stoneham, and a James [senr] & Hannah PURKIS were at Butlicks/Butlakes Common 1841.  I did wonder if they held occasional 'gatherings of the clans' of itinerant farming folk for family celebrations and whether the baptism of a James to the latter couple in 1822 might have been a 'late' one.

There is far greater disparity between their birthplaces and ages than usual, but at least the Hound baptisms provide a common denominator.  I'm unsure how/why Bittern [sic] becomes prominent in later years, unless that was where they would have wished settlement to end their days?

Somewhere, from the depths of my brain, Hazeley Down has surfaced.  My paternal grandfather was a gamekeeper on the Longwood Estate so the Owslebury/Twyford/Colden Common area south of Winchester was very familiar to my father and his siblings, who attended Owslebury School in the early-1900s.  I'm now wondering if Owslebury and Hazeley might have mutated to Hurstelbury in local dialect?