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Before we start, there were some unproven notions within the family about the origins and history of the HASSELL and BRAY names, so let's get them out of the way;

First the HASSELL family; in May 1980, relative Eileen de Mattos wrote to Richard Gilbert; "Bendon Sharvell Hassell (1829-1919) bought Tanner's Manor from the Sackvilles of Sevenoaks, and are descended from the Danes, originally HASTELNOD, distinguished for service abroad, and settled in Yorkshire, Oxford, Cheshire, Horsemonden, and Somerset."
This is not entirely correct. Bendon certainly did buy Tanners Manor, but in 1876 from the Bonnick family, the Sackvilles having vacated the premises some 250 years earlier! It may have been Bendon's wife, Fanny Monkton (1830-1912), who claimed descent from Edward III (1312-1377), and not Mary Bray. See below for more information about descent from Edward III.

The BRAY family claimed to be directly descended from Edward III and from a Sire de Bray of Normandy who was a "General of William the Conqueror in 1066". Relative Iris Adams wrote in 1978 "French 'de Bras' lost arm in battle, hence the name. They escaped to England, Massacre of St.Bartholomew and intermarried with Hassell family (South Saxons), hence the double name which came to the English form of 'de Bray'."
Elileen de Mattos had clearly been reading from the same script. She wrote in 1980 "Bendon Sharvell Hassell is the son of Thomas Hassell and Mary Bray (1897-1975), from Sire de Bray of Normandy, a general of William the Conqueror, 1066, directly descended from Edward III."
The accuracy of some of that is doubtful.
The surname BRAY is usually assumed to mean a family originating from places of that name in Devon, Cornwall, Berkshire or northern France. That includes the older form "de Bray", meaning "of (or from) Bray". "Brea" or "Bray" means "Hill" in Cornish, and "Marsh" in Old French. There were a number of Sir Brays located in various places during the medieval period (probably all of Norman ancestry) and their genealogy is uncertain, but most frequently the name is associated with places in Cornwall.
BRAY as a French surname is common in Normandy and Picardy, and the "Roll of Battle Abbey" mentions that men from that region joined the Norman invasion in 1066 and may have settled in Britain subsequently. I have been unable to find any connection with losing an arm and, according to British geneticist Adam Rutherford, it is virtually impossible for a person with a predominantly British ancestry not to be descended from Edward III. He has calculated that "almost every Briton is descended between 21 and 24 generations from Edward III".
Edward III had 13 children, of which six married and had children.

MONCKTON; as mentioned above, there was a family story that Mary Bray was descended from Edward III. In fact it may have been Bendon's wife, Fanny Monkton (1830-1912), who claimed descent from the Plantagenets, Edward III (1312-1377), and not Mary Bray. Since it can probably be proved that a high proportion of British people are descended from Edward III (as described above), it doesn't really matter either way.

FAMILY MEMBERS ARRANGED IN DATE ORDER

To earlier Hassell family members

1829 - 1919 BENDEN (or BENDON) SHARVELL HASSELL

Bendon Sharvell Hassell.

Born: 1829, Waldron
Parents; Thomas Hassell (1785-1870) = Mary Bray (1797-1875)
He was educated by the notable Sussex scholar and historian, Mark Anthony Lower.

At the 1851 census; Benden S.Hassell was living at "Shop House" Waldron, aged 22, assistant in shop, born in Waldron.
Later that year he emigrated to Australia and became a successful merchant. Reportedly he formed, with others, the Colonial Bank of Australia. (In the 1881 Census he was decribed as "Landowner and former bank director".)

On 28 November 1854 Benden (described as 'storekeeper and hotelier') was in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia when the military, on their way from Melbourne to the nearby goldfields, were attacked by a crowd of demonstrators. Bendon was standing in the doorway of the London Hotel on the Eureka Diggings (he ran the hotel with colleague Robert Monckton) and was accidentally shot in the leg. The bullet lodged in his shin and the wound was still suppurating and extremely painful when examined a week later. He appealed for compensation from the government in 1855 and a petition was set up resulting in 519 signatories and an award of £1,000.

In 1856 Benden and Robert Monckton became flour millers when they built a large mill in a swamp area now known as Lake Wendouree, Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. In 1865 Benden and Robert sold the flour mill to a Mr Fry of Ascot for £4,500. The two men then returned to England as very wealthy men. Four years later Benden married Robert's sister, Fanny Monckton.

Married; Fanny Monckton (1830-1912) on 15 September 1869 at Brenchley, Kent.
Children; Robert de Bray Hassell (1870-1920) and Reginald Edward Hassell (1872-1963).

Benden bought Tanners Manor in 1867 and his two sons were born there.

Details of the Hassell family at Tanners Manor.

At the East Sussex Record Office, Brighton, is a series of letters by B.S.Hassell in which he attempts to reconstruct the layout of the village of Waldron and lists the occupants of each house.

Died; 4 February 1919.

1830 - 1912 FANNY HASSELL (nee MONCKTON)

Born; 14 August 1830, Brenchley, Kent
Parents; Jonathan Monckton (21 September 1796 - 16 February 1853) = Ann Elizabeth Wicksteed (1796-1888)
The family became prosperous through the manufacture of paper in the Kent district of Plaxtol, Peckham, Wrotham and Ightham. Jonathan's brother Edward led to a line of descent including Walter Turner Monckton, 1st Viscount of Brenchley, Gilbert Monckton (1915-2006), 2nd Viscount of Brenchley, and Christopher Walter Brenchley (born in 1952), 3rd Viscount of Brenchley.

At the 1841 census living at "1716", Brenchley, Kent, aged 10.
At the 1851 census living at Portobello House, Brenchley, Kent, aged 20.
Moved to Rugeley, Staffordshire in 1854 with her brother Dr.Henry Monckton M.D., F.R.C.S. remaining there until 1864.

Married; Benden Sharvell Hassell (1829-1919) on 15 September 1869 at Brenchley, Kent.
Children; Robert de Bray Hassell (1870-1920), Reginald Edward Hassell (1872-1963).

Lived at Rugeley (Staffs), Lancaster, Tunbridge Wells, Capel Grange and Tanners Manor, Waldron.

Details of the Hassell family at Tanners Manor.

Died; 22 February 1912.
Buried; Late February 1912, Waldron. Present were: her husband (B S Hassell) and two sons (Robert and Reginald), Rev AHB Lees (nephew, son of Caroline, nee Hassell), Miss Dampier (niece, Elizabeth, nee Hassell, born 1825), Mrs Harding (niece, Alice, nee Hassell), Mr C Dampier (nephew, Charles Hassell Dampier, born 1862), Hugh Dampier (great nephew, son of Charles?), Mrs Chandler (Kate, nee Moore), Mr T Sawyer (great nephew), Rev W May (brother in law). Details are in Charlotte Gilbert's cuttings book Page 47, in H R Gilbert's records.

1870 - 1920 Colonel ROBERT de BRAY HASSELL

Born; 19 October 1870, Rugeley, Staffordshire.
Parents; Benden Sharvell Hassell (1829-1919) = Fanny Monckton (1830-1912)

At the 1881 Census he was living at Tudely Grange, Capel, Kent, aged 10, scholar.

Richard Gilbert, in a letter to Eileen de Mattos in 1980 wrote; "Robert Hassell, I might say, was often referred to in East Sussex papers when I was in my teens, he then being Master of the Hailsham Harriers [This would have been just before the 1914-18 war]. He was always called 'Col. de Bray Hassell'. He fought in the South African War, though whether as a professional soldier or a volunteer I don't know; nor do I know if he was married or not."

He joined the 2nd Brigade, Cinque Ports Eastern Division Royal Artillery on 8 September 1888 (East Kent Royal Garrison Artillery) and fought in South Africa. Commanded the Kent Royal Field Reserve Artillery Brigade from 1908. In August 1914 he was was recruited to the British Remount Commission for Canada and went to Montreal until 1916 when he moved to the USA, becoming Liaison Officer between the US and British governments, resulting in the award of the CMG.
Robert was a Waldron parish councillor from 1904, an East Sussex County Councillor and was also a JP in Uckfield. He named his addresses as Tanners Manor, Waldron, Sussex, The United Service Club, Pall Mall, London and the Embarkation office, C. S. O. Building, Newport News, Virginia.

Details of the Hassell family at Tanners Manor.

Died; 22 February 1920, aged 49, apparently as a consequence of some effect from World War One.
Buried at Waldron with full military honours and a Royal Engineers escort, firing party and trumpeter. The gravestone (a recognised war grave) is on the east side of churchyard overlooking the road. The inscription says "Lt.Col.R. de B.Hassell C.M.G., Royal Artillery, died aged 49". The Lt.Col. rank was honorary.

1872 - 1963 REGINALD "REGGIE" EDWARD HASSELL

Born; 1872, Tunbridge Wells, Kent.
Baptised; 31 August 1872, Tunbridge Wells.
Parents; Benden Sharvell Hassell (1829-1919) = Fanny Monckton (1830-1912)

At the 1881 Census he was living at Tudely Grange, Capel, Kent, aged 8, scholar.
At the 1901 Census he was living in Waldron (presumably Tanners Manor), aged 28. Occupation - "Living on own means". At the 1921 Census he was living in Waldron.

Married; Margaret A Thomas in Caernarvon in 1925.
She was allegedly a cousin of his mother's (Monckton) family, but I've been unable to find a connection.
Margaret may have remarried after Reginald's death in 1963, to ?? Godwin, Cobham, Surrey.

Children; Jane Hassell (c1932-1974). She was apparently severely handicapped.
Death notice in The Times, 6 August 1974; "HASSELL, JANE; On August 5th at Bray House, Burstead Close, Cobham, Surrey, aged 42. Beloved daughter of late R. E. Hassell of Tanners Manor, Horam, Sussex and Margaret Godwin, of Bray House, Cobham.

Reginald owned Burnt House Farm, Saperton Manor, Heathfield, from around 1910 to around 1930, and may even have lived there for some of that time.

Details of Burnt House Farm and Saperton Manor, Heathfield.

In June 1923, men surviving from the First World War built the Waldron cricket pavilion in a weekend. It was given to Waldron Cricket Club (and the pitch was laid) by Reginald Hassell in memory of his brother Robert, who died in 1920.
In 1926 he formed the Lions Green Works near Waldron with a Colonel Tuppen. This became one of the largest and most respected house building companies in the area, and its products still fetch premium prices today. During World World War 2 the works made long-range fuel tanks for Mosquito aircraft, and also parts for the Horsa glider. The company later passed to Mr.L.Pugh of Waldron House, and eventually closed in 1969.
(See Charlotte Gilbert's newspaper cuttings album page 64).
Died; 22 December 1963 at Tanners Manor, Waldron.

Details of the Hassell family at Tanners Manor.

Death notice in The Times, 23 December 1963;
"HASSELL. On December 22nd, 1963, at Tanners Manor, Horam, REGINALD EDWARD HASSELL, aged 91. Funeral private, no flowers. Friends please accept this as the only intimation."
Hope Jupp wrote in 2004; "My father saved the above cutting from the Times. I have a copy of a letter he wrote to R.E.Hassell in October 1963, trying to arrange to visit him with the 2 Miss Pettitts. I also have the reply from Mr.Hassell to my father asking them to visit during the week of Nov.4th, 1963. I don't know if they actually got to see him, and realise that he actually died only a month later. I have scribbled notes of a family tree in my father's handwriting, so maybe they did get to see him. No information other than you and I already have. My father also mentions in his letter 'The Misses Pettitt were able to see, in Eastbourne last week, the Misses Gilbert and their brother, Richard Gilbert...'. Maidie and Zillah Pettitt were always very interested in their family history."

Regarding the above, and it may be just a coincidence, but the occupier of Burnt House, Saperton, Heathfield when Reginald owned land there (Burnt House Farm) was a Mr R Pettit.

To later Hassell family members