Previous Hasler Generations
In 1841, John and Hannah lived in a poor house in Bobbingworth, Essex. Tracking ancestors prior to that is a difficult task and requires manually checking parish christening and marriage records of the area. Starting in 1851 the UK census began to include birthplace, unfortunately John and Hannah do not appear with their family in the 1851 census.
I believe that John Hasler must have died just before the time of the 1851 census. According to the English Registration records, a John Hasler died at the Stanford Rivers Union Work House in 1848.
View John's Death CertificateAlthough there is no proof that this is for sure the same John Hasler, I believe it is quite likely that John and his family were moved from the poor house in Bobbingworth to the Union Workhouse in Standford Rivers as part of the changes and in the laws regarding the poor at that time.
By 1861, Hannah was re-married to a man named William Stokes. They were living in Navestock with the two youngest boys John and George Hasler. From 1861 forward, Hannah lists her birthplace as Stapleford Tawney, which is just north-west of Novestock.
Census/birth records show their children born in the following places.
| James | Romford |
| Henry | Great Waltham |
| Anne | Stanford Rivers |
| Susannah | Bobbingworth |
| John | Kelvedon Hatch |
| George | Navestock |
The below map shows graphically where they were at different times.
Parish records of Stapleford Tawney indicate the birth and christining of a Hannah Turner in 1808 and I believe this is the correct person. However, there is no solid evidence of where John Hasler was born, only an approximate year of 1798.
According to the parish registers of the Great Waltham parish, a John Hasler and a John Heasler were christened in Great Waltham in 1798. This would be the correct year and could be the correct place.
Henry was most likely born in Great Waltham, as he was christened there on Aug 12, 1832. There was no record of James being christened there. And no record of John and Hannah's wedding there either. But since they were obviously living there for a time, it is very likely that these are at least their relatives.
Further research of christening records around that time, reveals a number of Hasler families living in the Great Waltham area. Prior to 1800, however, the spelling of the name was Heasler (most of them at the time appeared to be literate as many records were signed with an X, so it was up to the record taker to spell it for them). Between the years of 1756 and 1842, 81 Hasler children were christened in Great Waltham. For the complete list click here
The first couple in the area was James and Mary, who had three children christened (Thomas, Maria and James). They possibly moved to the area sometime just before the first christening (1756). There was a wide variation in the spelling of the last name (Thomas Hazler, Maria Heseler, and James Haseler) unil they settled on Heasler from about 1770 until the mid 1790's when the name Hasler started to appear.
It is very likely that one of the John Hasler's that was christened in 1798 was the father of John Hasler (1844) and I believe, based on the names of children that it is the son of Henry & Jane. I make this conclusion because the names Henry, Susannah and William used by John and Hannah. (Of course they are not uncommon names, but it is the best guess I have at the present time). Also, the child christined in Gt. Waltham was the one named Henry.
I've concluded that the ancestry of the two families are as follows (dates beside the children are christening dates). There is no proof that James and Mary are Henry's parents and so that is just a guess. It is possible that Henry is not Jame's son, but a younger brother or cousin. There were two other Hasler families that started (John & George) around the same time as Henry's and Thomas's. They could also be sons of James.
I am also guessing that James and Mary moved to the Great Waltham area sometime just before 1756, with a number of children already. It's possible that they immigrated to England from Germany or Switzerland at this time as part of the wool trade or they may have been Dutch and came over with William of Orange as a number of them were stationed in the Waltham area at that time. It's also possible that they moved from another area of England. The Hasler name can be found in England as early as the mid 16th century.
The elder Henry appears to have died in Great Waltham in1822 at the age of 77, which would have put his birth around the year 1745. This would have made him 24 when he married, which seems reasonable.
Thomas appears to have died in Great Waltham in 1831, also at the age of 77.
A John Hasler also died in 1798 and could have been one of the children, as no age was given for the death. Unfortunately they only started showing ages on the burial records sometime around 1810.
I also found three Haslers christened in Romford between 1754 and 1758 (Sarah, William and Elizabeth) to the parents Matthew and Sarah. There were also a number of Hasler families living in Stambourne and Toppesfield, Essex which is about 15 or 20 miles north of Great Waltham. No John was listed between 1795 and 1800 though.
The earliest records I came across for any Hasler in Essex, was in 1580 (A number of Hasler children, no first name given were christened to Juhis Hasler) in Ashdon, which is about 5 miles west of Stambourne. I have not found any sold links between all these families, but it is possible that they are all related in some way.