 Hansell was born on 6 October 1857 in Caen in Normandy, France.His father Peter Hansell was a British pastor, who had been rector of Kingsdon, Somerset before being appointed as Consular Chaplain of Caen on 11 October 1853.Father and son later returned together to Somerset, England.At some point Alexander moved from Somerset to Winchester, where he studied architecture, and in 1888 he moved to Japan.