Introduction to the Hanmers
Origins of the Hanmer name
It is assumed that the family name derives from the village of Hanmer in the county borough of Wrexham, in Wales. The village lies on the northern end of Hanmer Mere, which forms part of the south Cheshire/north Shropshire complex of residual glacial lakes formed during the last ice-age. Until the reorganisation of Welsh local government on 1 April 1974 Hanmer was in the part of Flintshire county known as the Maelor Saesneg - the English-speaking Maelor.
Hanmer, or Hagenamere as it was originally known, takes its name from the Anglo-Saxon colonist Hagena, who first carved out a holding by the mere some 1300 years ago. Hagena is Germanic in origin and probably means "protector". A mere is a lake or pond.
My Great Great Great Great Great Grandfather - Robert Hanmer
So far the only traceable reference to Robert Hanmer is to his burial on 4 December 1786 at St James's Church, Toxteth, Liverpool, Lancashire. His occupation was Joiner.
My Great Great Great Great Grandfather - Thomas Hanmer
Variously described as a Shipwright, a Carpenter and a Shopkeeper Thomas Hanmer married Jane Marsden on 5 June 1781 at St George's Church, Derby Square, Liverpool. At that time Thomas was described as a Shipwright of Liverpool and Jane as a Spinster, also of Liverpool. They were married by Banns by Henry Barton and the two witnesses were Samuel Frost and Ann Poynton.
My Great Great Great Grandfather - John Marsden Hanmer
John Marsden Hanmer was born on 3 June 1795 in Liverpool. He was baptised at St James's Church, Toxteth, later that year on 22 October. At the time of his birth his parents Thomas, a Shipwright, and Jane were living in Crosbie Street. John married Mary Quail at St Nicholas, Liverpool, on 4 December 1820 when he was 25. At that time he was already a Surgeon. The couple were married by Banns by Samuel Renshaw AM, Rector. Mary too was from Liverpool. She was 22, having been born on 17 January 1798, the daughter of John Quail, who was a tailor, and his wife Dorothy.
John and Mary had 4 children: twins Dorothy and Jane Elizabeth, born in 1823; Thomas, my Great Great Grandfather, born in 1825; and Jeremiah born in 1827.
John died very young, aged only 33, in November 1828.
My Great Great Grandfather - Thomas Hanmer (1826 -1890)
Thomas Hanmer was born on 6 July 1826. He married Sarah Leach Williams (born 10/9/1829; died 17/9/1888 at 36 Carlton Road, Birkenhead) on 15 September 1847, when he was only 21 years old. He and Sarah had an astonishing 11 children over a 19-year year period from 1848 to 1867. They were both members of Great George Street Congregational Chapel in Birkenhead. Thomas devoted his entire working life to the Liverpool Sailors' Home. He started working there in about 1850, and retired 46 years later in 1896 aged 70. Sarah died in 1888 at the age of 60. Two years later, on 2 July 1890, Thomas remarried in Pwllheli. His second wife was Ann Nancy Jones. Thomas died on 9 November 1900 in Troutbeck, Windermere at the age of 74. Ann lived on for 14 years more, dying on 28 Feb 1914.
My Great Grandfather - Thomas Ainley Hanmer (1856-1922)
Thomas Ainley Hanmer was born on 22 September 1856 in Wirral, the sixth child of Thomas and Sarah Leach Hanmer. He died on 24 November 1922 in Formby aged 66. Thomas was a chartered accountant.
He married Elizabeth Ellen Hassal in Liverpool on 13 December 1881......more information about the Hassal family.
Thomas and Elizabeth had 10 children.
My Grandfather - Hassal Hanmer (1889 -1963)
Hassal Hanmer MA BD was born on 18 August 1889 in Toxteth Park, Liverpool. The name Hassal came from his mother, Elizabeth Ellen Hassal. One of ten children, he had two older brothers and one older sister. After him came three more boys and three more girls. He married Margaret Campbell Murray DA, eldest child of Abijah and Grace (nee McDiarmid) Murray, on 17 January 1917 at Augustine Church, George IV Bridge, Edinburgh. At that time Hassal, aged 27, was on active service in France. The couple had 4 children. Hassal died on 13 January 1963 aged 73.
More to come