52 Ancestors 2026 Week 22 - A Name With Meaning
The Hunnisetts, Handsetes & Honeysetts The surname Hunnisett has been spelled a dozen different ways across five centuries — Handsete, Henesit, Honeysett — but its meaning has never changed. It is the name of a family forged in iron. My ancestor Peter Handsete, who married in Fletching in 1569, was one of the early hammermen of the Sussex Weald, part of a lineage that began with two French ironworkers who crossed the Channel in the early 1500s. Their name shifted as they moved through parishes and generations, but its story remained: a tale of migration, skill, and the clang of iron on the anvil. 🔨 Forged in Fire: The First Hunnisetts in England The earliest known bearers of the name in England were two French ironworkers: Jacques , arriving around 1517 Adrian , arriving around 1523 Their arrival coincided with the explosive growth of the Wealden iron industry, which expanded from 2 blast furnaces in 1520 to more than 50 by 1550 . They were almost certainly connected to the ...
