Buckly Surname History

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

The Anglo-Saxon name Buckly comes from the family having resided in any of the places named Buckley, or Buckleigh, in England. Buckly is a local surname, which belongs to the category of hereditary surnames. The name may derive from the Old English "bok lee," meaning meadow, or field. The likely meaning of the name was "clearing in a beech wood" (with boc meaning beech tree and ley meaning wood, glade or clearing). The name could also have been construed from "bucc" meaning a buck or deer; or from the Welsh "bwlch y clai," meaning clay hole. 1

Early Origins of the Buckly family

The surname Buckly was first found in Cheshire where Buckley was an Anglo-Saxon local, with some of its houses later recorded in the Domesday Book. The first documented evidence of its existence dates from 1294 when it was described as the pasturage of the Manor of Ewloe, spelled as "Bokkeley". 2

Alternatively, the original spelling of the name was Bulclough, meaning "large mountains," and related specifically to a chain of mountains in central Cheshire in England. Whichever derivation, you choose, all point to Cheshire.

"The Buckleys of Cheshire have been for probably 200 years in the parish of Mottram-in-Longdendale. The name is at present best represented on and near the Lancashire border in the vicinity of Manchester, but it is also established in the counties of Derby, Lancashire, Stafford, Worcester, and in the West Riding." 3

Early English rolls provide us a glimpse of the spelling variations used through Medieval times. Today we typically need to look beyond the spellings of these entries and concentrate on on a phonetic appreciation of the entries. The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 include: David de Buckelay, Yorkshire; and Michael de Bokele, Suffolk. The Lay Subsidy Rolls include an entry for Christian de Bukkelegh, Lancashire, 1332. 4

Early History of the Buckly family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Buckly research. Another 165 words (12 lines of text) covering the years 1517, 1524, 1537, 1547, 1568, 1570, 1571, 1572, 1583, 1584, 1593, 1610, 1635, 1641, 1650, 1659, 1698 and 1702 are included under the topic Early Buckly History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Buckly Spelling Variations

Buckly has been spelled many different ways. Before English spelling became standardized over the last few hundred years, spelling variations in names were a common occurrence. As the English language changed in the Middle Ages, absorbing pieces of Latin and French, as well as other languages, the spelling of people's names also changed considerably, even over a single lifetime. Spelling variants included: Buckley, Bucklie, Buckly, Bulkely, Bulkley, Bulkelly, Boukley, Bulkaly, Bulkly, Bulklay and many more.

Early Notables of the Buckly family

Notables of the family at this time include William Buckley (d. 1570?), an English mathematician, a native of Lichfield, educated at Eton, whence he was elected to a scholarship at King's College, Cambridge, in 1537. Robert or Sigebert Buckley (1517-1610), was a Benedictine monk who was professed at Westminster in Queen Mary's reign. "He was imprisoned on refusing to take the oath of supremacy, and remained in captivity during the whole of Elizabeth's...
Another 71 words (5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Buckly Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Buckly family to Ireland

Some of the Buckly family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 198 words (14 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Buckly migration to the United States +

In an attempt to escape the chaos experienced in England, many English families boarded overcrowded and diseased ships sailing for the shores of North America and other British colonies. Those families hardy enough, and lucky enough, to make the passage intact were rewarded with land and a social environment less prone to religious and political persecution. Many of these families became important contributors to the young colonies in which they settled. Early immigration and passenger lists have documented some of the first Bucklys to arrive on North American shores:

Buckly Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Rowd Buckly, who landed in Virginia in 1636 5
Rowland Buckly, who arrived in Virginia in 1637 5

Buckly Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Kate Buckly, aged 13, who arrived in New York in 1854 5
Cornelius Buckly, who landed in St Clair County, Illinois in 1864 5
Timothy Buckly, who landed in St Clair County, Illinois in 1864 5

Buckly migration to West Indies +

The British first settled the British West Indies around 1604. They made many attempts but failed in some to establish settlements on the Islands including Saint Lucia and Grenada. By 1627 they had managed to establish settlements on St. Kitts (St. Christopher) and Barbados, but by 1641 the Spanish had moved in and destroyed some of these including those at Providence Island. The British continued to expand the settlements including setting the First Federation in the British West Indies by 1674; some of the islands include Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and Belize then known as British Honduras. By the 1960's many of the islands became independent after the West Indies Federation which existed from 1958 to 1962 failed due to internal political conflicts. After this a number of Eastern Caribbean islands formed a free association. 6

Buckly Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century

Rowd Buckly, who settled in Barbados in 1636
John Buckly, who settled in Barbados in 1679

Citations +

Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Guppy, Henry Brougham, Homes of Family Names in Great Britain. 1890. Print.
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies