Ogell History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The surname Ogell was first found in Northumberland where the earliest record of the name was of Humphrey de Hoggell who was granted a deed by William the Conqueror to enjoy "all the liberties and royalties of his manor of Ogle in an ample as a manner as any of his ancestors enjoyed the same before the time of the Norman invasion." 1

The same source adds to this claim, " the manor formed part of the possessions, and was the residence, of the Ogle family, who were seated here before the Conquest, and with whom it continued till the time of Elizabeth. " 2

The township of Shilvington in Northumberland was home to another branch of the family. "It was anciently a manor in the Merlay barony, and was the property of the knightly families of Gubium and Ogle, the connexion of the latter of whom with the place was revived in 1830, the Rev. J. Savile Ogle then purchasing the estate." 2

As far as the meaning of the place names and surname, it is unclear. One source postulates that the name arose from Hoggel, possibly "hill of a man called Ocga," as an Old English personal name + "hyll." 3

"The family (from whom springs the existing baronet), rose to eminence in the twelfth century, and derived their surname from the lordship of Oggil, co. Northumberland; but Ogle appears also to be an Anglo-Saxon or Danish personal name, as it occurs, in composition with topographical expressions." 4

Sir Robert de Ogle (d. 1362), was an early soldier, "head of a Northumberland family long settled at Ogle in the parish of Whalton, eight miles south-west of Morpeth. The family rose to importance in consequence of the border warfare with Scotland. When David Bruce penetrated as far as Newcastle in August 1341, Ogle distinguished himself by effecting the capture of five Scottish knights, and in the same year Edward III gave him Permission to castellate his manorhouse at Ogle, together with the privilege of free warren on his demesne lands. Some remains of Ogle Castle, which was surrounded by two moats, are still to be seen." 5

Early rolls include: Robert de Ogle in the Pipe Rolls for Northumberland in 1181; Agnes and Gilbert Dogel in the Curia Regis Rolls for Northumberland in 1221; and Robert Ogill in the Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379. 6

Further to the north in Scotland, the name is also "from the place named Ogle in Northumberland. Robert de Ogle before his death in 1362 held half the barony of the Hospital in Northumberland. Henry de Ogle witnessed a charter of lands in Fife, 1395, and Patrick Ogyll witnessed a papal dispensation by the bishop of Dunblane in 1422. Alexander de Ogil de Popil was one of an assize on the lands of Gladmor, 1430, and Patrick Ogyl (Ogyll or Ogill) held a tenement in Haddington in 1458 and was witness there in same year." 7