My maiden surname is MANSELL but my 3xG Grandpa (who Ive discovered was born in Newent 1801 and were leather workers )spelled his surname MANSEL his daughter spelled her name Mansell.

Mansell is I think often derived from Cell mans or people that came over from Le Mans with the Duke of Normandy. I think that spellings weren't settled until much later so it would be worth looking at both variations to see if there is a crossover with two people in the same family group spelling their name differently.
Good luck and let me know how you get on.

Thomas MOUSEL of Newland

Kitty PEMBRIDGE of Newland (assume Catherine) **

by banns

witnesses: John EVANS and Sarah CONSTANT

*** ? Ancestry, baptism at Llancillo, Hereford, 28 March 1756, Catherine PEMBRIDGE, parents: Edward & Elizabeth

----

Ancestry:

Baptd 28 November 1790

Willm son of Thos & Catharine MOUFEL (Clearwell)

-----
?
Baptism at Newland

30 August 1752

Thomas MOUSEL, parents: Thomas & Elizabeth (Clearwell)

BT's state surname as MANSEL

Ref Clearwell, don't forget that like so many other Churches in the Forest, Clearwell's wasn't built until long after the 1790s, hence Newland was the only real choice available in the western FoD at that time, plus of course it's very near Clearwell village.

Bob,
I preume you mean this PR from this site's database ?.

Record_ID: 391733
Entry_Number:
Year: 1790
Month: Nov
Day: 28
Parents_Surname: MOUSEL
Child_Forenames: William
Fathers_Forenames: Thomas
Mothers_Forenames: Catharine
Mothers_Surname:
Residence: Clearwell
Occupation:
Officiating_Minister:
Event: Baptism
Memoranda:
Notes: Any abbreviated forenames have been expanded to the full name
Register_Reference: P227 IN 1/4
Page_Number: 800
Parish_Chapel: Newland
Soundex: M240

Bob, have you viewed the actual photographic image of the Parish Record which is perhaps on Ancestry ?. Also, have you submitted a request for the transcription to be checked ?.
http://www.forest-of-dean.net/joomla/help-faq/database-correction-request-form

I ask as I'm currently unable to access Ancestry so cannot view the PR if it's there, but it seems that it isn't the easiest to read. I see a slight discrepancy between this FoD site's transcription and that on Familysearch which contains a few spelling variations including spelling his surname with two "l"s.

Name William Mousell
Gender Male
Christening Date 28 Nov 1790
Christening Date (Original) 28 NOV 1790
Christening Place NEWLAND,GLOUCESTER,ENGLAND
Father's Name Thos Mousell
Mother's Name Cathere

???

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Altho you are indeed currect regarding the high likelihood of spelling variations and errors due to strong dialects and poor literacy skills, which sometimes also included members of the clergy as well as the locals, personally I'm not convinced that Mansell and Mousell could be one of these such names. To my mind they sound different, but then again I don't know just how capable the clergy cleric was at the time, or even how good his hearing or memory was !
I guess almost anything is possible in this respect.

Have you found William Mousell b1790 in the 1841 etc Census ?. Or maybe some of his relatives, or indeed other Clearwell Mousells ?. Have any of these been transcribed as Mansell, or vice versa ?
This might enable you to gain an insight into the accuracy of the PRs for this surname at that time, perhaps variations were not uncommon.

You haven't had any replies, so you may have slipped under the radar!

I can't answer your question regarding Mousell and Mansell, but I have found this baptism which may be of interest? You will see that the baptism was in Newland but the couple lived in CLEARWELL.

Record_ID: 392284
Entry_Number:
Year: 1796
Month: Mar
Day: 20
Parents_Surname: MOUSELL
Child_Forenames: Maria
Fathers_Forenames: William
Mothers_Forenames: Hannah
Mothers_Surname:
Residence: Clearwell
Occupation:
Officiating_Minister:
Event: Baptism
Memoranda:
Notes:
Register_Reference: P227 IN 1/4
Page_Number: 841
Parish_Chapel: Newland
Soundex: M240

May or may not be connected!

Regards
Chris

My mother's family were Mansells. Real foresters.

I've traced back with certainty to William Mansell from Clements Green (near Clearwell) who registered as a Freeminer in 1838. He was born on November 17, 1790.

But the only potential reference I've found so far is a William who was baptised at Newland Church on Nov 28, 1790 but the spelling may well be Mousell rather than Mansell.

Is it possible that, given the Forest accent and the fact that some miners couldn't read or write, that Mousell may have been corrupted to Mansell?

Is it a workable theory? Because if it is, then I can take the Mousells back to the 1600s..

Thoughts welcome.

(Bob Walker)