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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

1784 - 1857 STEPHEN HASSELL

Stephen Hassell (1784-1857)

Born; 1784, Waldron.
Baptised; 22 March 1784, Waldron
Parents; Stephen Hassell (1757-1837) = Elizabeth Jones (1756-1833)

Married (1); Susannah Bray (1786-18??) of Waldron in 1805. Marriage licence issued 21 May 1805
Children; George (1807-?), Tom (1808-1842), daughter, Harriett (1812-1891), Sophia (1814-18??), Ruth Anne (1815-1895), Charlotte (1817-1895), Mary (c1819-18??), Stephen (1820-1881).

Married (2); Sarah Sampson (1790-after 1850) born in Ashford, widow of Isfield, in 1830. Marriage licence issued 10 January 1830
Children; John Hassell (183?-18??)

Of Waldron, tailor and draper. Stephen Hassell, tailor of Waldron parish is "willing to serve" in the 1803 Militia List, unmarried, aged between 17 and 30 - his father Stephen is also listed.

1851 Census; Living at 47 George Street, Brighton, aged 67, tailor. With his 2nd wife Sarah, aged 61.
Died; 1 December 1857, Seaside Road, Eastbourne.

1786 - 182? SUSANNAH HASSELL (nee BRAY)

Born; 1786, Waldron.
Baptised; 15 April 1786, Waldron
Parents; 'W' & 'E' in the ESRO Baptisms index.

Married; Stephen Hassell (1784-1857) as his 1st wife, in 1805. Marriage licence issued 21 May 1805
Children; George (1807-18??), Tom (1808-1842), daughter, Harriett (1812-1891), Sophia (1814-18??), Ruth Anne (1815-1895), Charlotte (1817-1895), Mary (181?-18??), Stephen (1820-1881).

Susannah may be a sister of Mary (1797-18??) who married her brother-in-law, Thomas Hassell (1785-18??).
Died; Presumably in the 1820s, as Stephen married again in 1830.

1790 - 18?? SARAH HASSELL (nee SAMPSON)

Born; 1790.
Married; Stephen Hassell (1784-1857) as his 2nd wife, in 1830. Marriage licence issued 10 January 1830.
Widow of Isfield.
Children; John Hassell (183?-18??)
1851 Census; Stephen was living at 47 George Street, Brighton, aged 67, tailor. With wife Sarah, aged 61.

1807 - 18?? GEORGE HASSELL

Born; 1807, Waldron.
Parents; Stephen Hassell (1784-1857) tailor & draper of Waldron = Susannah Bray (1786-182?) - his first wife.

1808 - 1842 THOMAS HASSELL

Born; 1808, Waldron.
Parents; Stephen Hassell (1784-1857) tailor & draper of Waldron = Susannah Bray (1786-182?) his first wife.
Died; 5 May 1842
Buried; 11 May 1842, at Cade Street Chapel, Heathfield.

1812 - 1891 HARRIET READ (nee HASSELL)

Born; 1812, Hellingly.
Parents; Stephen Hassell (1784-1857) tailor & draper of Waldron = Susannah Bray (1786-18??) his first wife.

Married; Francis Read (181?-18??) of Framfield. The Read family had an ancestor (Thomas Reed of Ardingly) burnt at the stake in Lewes in 1556 during the reign of Mary Tudor (his name is on the Martyrs Memorial, Lewes).
Children; Charlotte Read (16 March 1837 - July 1910) who married Thomas Pettitt (1 May 1836 - 19 May 1908) at Uckfield. Charlotte and Thomas had 11 children, Charlotte Ruth, Lucy Anne, Thomas, Mary, Harriett, John, George, Caroline, Isaac, Samuel.

Lived at Horam Manor Farm
Died; 1891
Buried; Five Ash Down Chapel, Uckfield, Sussex.

1814 - 1882 SOPHIA NOAKES (nee HASSELL)

Born; 1814, Hellingly
Parents; Stephen Hassell (1784-1857) tailor & draper of Waldron = Susannah Bray (1786-18??) his first wife.
Married; Solomon Noakes (1813 or 1816, Willingdon-18??), tailor of Willingdon
Children (9); Ruth (b.1833, Waldron), William (b.1834, Waldron), Caroline (b.1836, Waldron), Frederick (b.1839, Stover, Sussex), Stephen (b.1842, Bletchingley, Surrey), Charlotte "Lottie" (b.1844 Bletchingley), Luther Josiah (b.1846 Bletchingley - 1865), John B. (b.1849, Bletchingley), Sophia (b.1851 Bletchingley - 1923).
One of the sons died of tuberculosis.
Sophia (jnr.) married Joseph Samuel Lewis (b.1857 Willingdon) in Eastbourne 1876.
Charlotte Noakes was a shop girl / assistant for many years at Gilbert's Bakery, 52 Seaside Road, Eastbourne.
Died; 1882, Eastbourne

1815 - 1895 RUTH ANNE ADAMS (nee HASSELL)

Ruth Anne Adams, around 1885.

Born; 1815 or 1816, Horsebridge, Hellingly, although one report says that Ruth was from Blackboys.
Parents; Stephen Hassell (1784-1857) tailor & draper of Waldron = Susannah Bray (1786-18??) his first wife.

Married; Isaac Adams (1819?-1892) Shopkeeper (saddlery, then fish), on 28 January 1844 at St.Paul's, Deptford.
Children; Ruth Anne "Nancy" (1844?-1869), married Samuel Bawden (1840-1890)
John Calvin (1845?-1925) (had 5 children) (or was he Calvin John Dean Adams?)
Caleb Luther (184?-18??) friend of William Gilbert 1823-1874
Isaac (22 April 1854 - April 1937) had 5 children, Reginald, Letitia, Percy, Sydney, Beatrice
Stephen and Mary, who died as infants
Mary (1857?-1928) "Polly", married Frank James Gorringe of Eastbourne and had 6 children.

Died; 15 February 1895
In a brief death notice of her sister Charlotte (Ellen I.Gilbert's newspaper cuttings album Page 140) in February 1895 she is described as "Mrs.Adams, widow of the late Mr.Isaac Adams of Brooklyn House" (Eastbourne).
From Robert Morris's diary 15 Feb 1895; "Mrs.Adams (Brooklyn House) died this morning."

More details of Ruth's family

1817 - 1895 CHARLOTTE GILBERT (nee HASSELL)

Charlotte Gilbert around 1870.

Born; 20 September 1817, Hellingly (although the family were more from Waldron)
Parents; Stephen Hassell (1784-1857) tailor & draper of Waldron = Susannah Bray (1786-18??) his first wife.
Married; David Gilbert (1825-1916) on 17 December 1855, at "the Old Church" (St.Nicholas's) Brighton.
A copy of the marriage certificate dated May 1876 is in H.R.Gilbert's records. Witnesses were Isaac Adams (181?-18??, her brother-in-law) and Harriett Read (1814-18??, her sister). Charlotte's address is shown as 28 Ship Street, Brighton.
Children; Mary (1857-1942), David (1861-1902)

It is believed that she met David Gilbert when they both attended the Independent Chapel at Framfield, and married him in Dec 1855, immediately before their move to Eastbourne to start the bakery business. His grand-daughter Ellen wrote of a conversation she had with David in his later years "While at Tickerage, he became acquainted with Mrs.Reed and, through hearing of her sister Charlotte, came to know Grandma. I gathered that he wrote to Charlotte Hassell and when (I suppose) she favoured his suit, he asked her father's permission to pay his addresses to her, to which he consented. When a shop, empty for three months, was heard of in Eastbourne, it was taken, and they were married."

Charlotte Gilbert c.1880. Photo: Alfred J Isard, Seaside Road, Eastbourne.

More information about Charlotte Gilbert's family.

Died; 2 February 1895.
Four photographs are held in H.R.Gilbert's records.

c.1819 - 18?? MARY ROBERTSON (nee HASSELL)

Born; c1819, Waldron.
Parents; Stephen Hassell (1784-1857) tailor & draper of Waldron = Susannah Bray (1786-18??) his first wife.

Married; George O. Robertson, from Scotland.
Children; None of their own, so adopted a son.
Went to America, and eventually owned substantial estates in Minnesota.
Hope Jupp, grand-daughter of Ruth Hassell, wrote in 2002 "I have a picture of the residence of 'George O. Robertson, Nininger, Dakota Co., Minn. saying 'George O. Robertson, a native of Scotland, settled here in 1857, his farm is one of the best in the State. Site of residence and prospect from it magnificent.' Pity it didn't stay in the family!!"
Caleb Luther Adams and his wife Dora Adams also lived in St. Paul, Minnesota (Ruth Hassell had married Isaac, Caleb's brother).
Hope Jupp also wrote; "This is Caleb Adams, son of John Adams and uncle to Caleb Luther Adams who married Edith Skinner of Petworth."

1820 - 1881 STEPHEN HASSELL

Born; 1820, Hellingly
Parents; Stephen Hassell (1784-1857) tailor & draper of Waldron = Susannah Bray (1786-18??) his first wife.
Married; ??
Children; Willie, Joseph (unmarried)
Occupation; Tailor aged 31 in 1851.
Visitor to John Marsh (1796-18??) 'fund holder' and his wife Mary at Burton House, Eastbourne at the 1851 Census.
Ella Dowley (a grand-daughter of Stephen's sister, Ruth) wrote to Charlotte Gilbert in Mar 1972; "... a son called Stephen Hassell was the first to be buried at Ocklynge." (Ocklynge Cemetery, Eastbourne)
Died; January 1881, Eastbourne.

c.1832 - 18?? JOHN HASSELL

Born; c1832
Parents; Stephen Hassell (1784-1857) = Sarah Sampson (1790-18??)
Married; ??
Children; 2 boys, 1 girl

To later Hassell family members