BENSLEY

BENSLEY. Most persons of the name trace back to Norfolk and Suffolk, and there is a tradition of Danish descent. The name is certainly found in Sweden. The celebrated Benzelius, Archbishop of Upsal, derived his surname from the village of Benzely near that city. (V. Gorton and Watkins). In Domesd. we have a Benzelinus, apparently a follower of the Conqueror, and as the forms Benesle, Bensle}Ti, &c., are used incUscriminately, there is little doubt of these names coming from a common Scandinavian source. The name is found in 28 forms of spelling. Inf. T. Bensley, Esq.

Lower, Mark A (1860) Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom. London: J.R. Smith. Public Domain.