Website Curator

• About the website curator

Frank Sambells is a retired geography/environmental science high school teacher from Milton Ontario Canada. He started researching the origins of the Sambells surname and his own ancestors in the early 1990’s. Frank has identified the earliest origins of the surname in both England (1154 AD) and France (980 AD). Applying genealogical proof standards Frank has traced his own pedigree back to earliest parish registers of the mid 1500’s. He is presently taking a series of certification courses in genealogy research methods from the National Institute of Genealogy.

Frank has made many trips to the Cornwall Records Office in Truro in recent years. In 2010 Frank retrieved parish records that confirmed his paternal pedigree back to 1566 in the Parish of St Germans. In 2011 research of the Tithes Surveys of St Germans provided new information concerning the agrarian lifestyle of his ancestors prior to the census of 1841. In 2012 Frank obtained copies of 16th-century wills which confirmed the continuity of several living branches of the Sambells clan. It also confirmed that some Samuels who trace their origins to Cornwall are also branches of the Sambells family tree. Frank has incorporated this information into a book which documents his research findings of the past two and a half decades. The book “Sambells Family History: Origins and Lineage” was published in Sept. 2016, and is available for purchase through this website.

After completing the documentation of his family tree back to the 1500’s Frank was compelled to make attempts to contact other branches of the Sambell/Sambells families from around the world. His research over the years provided many clues that suggested the emigration of several Cornish and Devon Sambell/s in the eighteen and nineteen hundreds. This lead to the establishment of many different branches of the clan throughout the world. In October 2011, his efforts to make contact with other international branches of the family were very successful. He was amazed to discover the enthusiasm that many other people had in researching their paternal Sambell/s origins.

As a result, Frank was inspired to develop this website as a venue to support and encourage other family historians to share their own discoveries. It is hoped that this website will inspire others to continue the research process and to make contributions to writing the story of the origins, migrations, and life of the Sambell/s clan over the past 1000 years.