The Knill family of Knill Court in Herefordshire has not been included in this research as their descendancy is known. The ancestor of the Knill-Knell families of Herefordshire is supposed to be one John de Braose, the still missing link. Whether there is a common ancestor with other Knell families is not certain. However, the latest research shows that by the end of the 13th C. there was a Walter Knill, a templar, in Cambridge. In the 14th C. one of his descendants mentions the same property in Papworth Anneys held by the family 100 years ago, where there is still a Knill well and Knill brook. At that date he had further property in Surrey and Sussex. Meanwhile the name was spelled Knell and Knoll.
Knill from Knill Court in Herefordshire:
The name was spelt as Cnullla, Knull, Knulle, Knille Knyll, Knylle, Knoyle, Knell,
Knelle and Kennell.
Cornwall:
Kenell, Kennell, Kennel, Kenall, Kennall, Kennal, once Kenett (manor).
Roland de Kenell was murdered in 1202 and the culprit was tried.
Sussex and Hampshire, Middlesex, London and Kent:
Cnelle, Chnell, Knelle, Knell, Knel, Knoll, Knolle, de la Knelle, Knellee,
Kenele, de la Knolle, de la Cnelle, de la Knelle, Cnolle, de la Cnolle,
later even Knylle.
Wiltshire, Devon, Dorset Somerset :
Knoll, Knoell, Knoyle, Knoll(e), (de la) Cnolle, Kenell, Kennell, Keynell, Knowle
Shropshire:
De la Cnolle 1190 and later, Oliver de la Cnolle having received Cnolle and
other property from Walter de Dunstanville as his harper. A Knowle wood is still
existant. (Eyton)
Knill was first documented by Ralph de Cnulle (Knill), a witness to a charter of Guy Lestrange of Knocking dated 1170-3. The family's earliest holding was situated in Byford. In Testa Nevill it is described as of 'old feoffment', i.e. received between 1100 and 1135 during the reign of King Henry II. Knill was mentioned as held by the family in 1249 and Knill and Byford are still in the 16th C.
Hampshire: There was a place called Great Knulle near Crondale and family
members were found under the names of Knill, Knell and Knull.
According to Burke all the Knill and Knell families’ arms were:
Gules cruzilly or, a lion rampant or (with some variations, especially in
colours). Other heraldic dictionaries mention also Gules crusilly fitchy a lion
rampant or, langed and crowned azure which is probably the one of the Knelle
family in Sussex.
Knelle manor in East Sussex was held by Stephen de Cnelle from c. 1185-90.
In West Sussex about 1260 a Philip, son of Robert de la Cnolle issued a deed concerning Robert de Holt of Holt farm in Clapham situated next to Goring Castle and thus also to the manor of 'De la Cnelle', Field Place, Knell, Knole or Knoll. According to VCH Sussex, Bramber Rape, Clapham manor was held in 1073 by William de Braose. (Foot note 32 Tarring manor). The St. Owens were tenants from 1103 for about 450 years. - A Richard de Knell bought a virgate of land in 1190 of the owner of Tarring manor which lies next to Knell House. The first of the family found so far was Hemeric de Knelle acting in 1164 in the area.
There are references to Knell families in Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire.
But so far no traces of them could be found except the name of one field in
Goucestershire, in Gotherington, despite of their arms being described in armories and dictionaries.
A Knoll manor near Woodstock is mentiond where King Edward I’s horses had to be looked after (National
Archives).
A survey shows clearly, that the surnames of the same persons were spelt differently in the documents. This applies also to manor, place or field names. Thus it is vey difficult to discern whether for example the surname Knoll,e,es is a variation of Knell,e or not or who belongs to which family.
Kennell wood in Knill is called Knill wood or Knell wood in different maps.
A survey carried out at an earlier date, referring to the concentration of Knill and Knell families in the 18th and 19th centuries, shows also that the bulk of them were still present in former Braose lands, whereas on the Continent the bulk of them was settled all along the Rhine valley from where the families spread (and from where my family hails). A statistic elaborated in an English university shows that 80 per cent of all Knell families in the world live in England, 4% in Germany and the rest are distributed in the remaining countries including the United States of America.