Coakly History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

Of all the Anglo-Saxon names to come from Britain, Coakly is one of the most ancient. The name is a result of the original family having lived in Staffordshire, at Colclough. The place name is a compound of two words, col, meaning cold, and clough, meaning gully. The surname means "dweller near the cold ravine."

Early Origins of the Coakly family

The surname Coakly was first found in Staffordshire at Colclough, "an estate in Staffordshire, in which county the family resided, temp. Edward III." 1 "Colecrough, found in the same county, is a manifest variant." 2

"Colclough is the name of an ancient family that resided on the estate of their name at Wolstanton as far back as the reign of Edward III.; the Colcloughs were lords of the manor of Hanley in the 17th century, and members of the family received the honour of knighthood and possessed a baronetcy. The name is still in Hanley." 3

Early History of the Coakly family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Coakly research. Another 77 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1384, 1385, 1386, 1390, 1395, 1397, 1414, 1542, 1575, 1590, 1624, 1628, 1630, 1637, 1650, 1678, 1684, 1687, 1696, 1758 and 1766 are included under the topic Early Coakly History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Coakly Spelling Variations

The first dictionaries that appeared in the last few hundred years did much to standardize the English language. Before that time, spelling variations in names were a common occurrence. The language was changing, incorporating pieces of other languages, and the spelling of names changed with it. Coakly has been spelled many different ways, including Colclough, Coleclough, Collclough and others.

Early Notables of the Coakly family

Notables of this surname at this time include: William Colclough (died c. 1414), of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire and Calverhall, Shropshire, an English politician. He was a Member (MP) of the Parliament of England for Newcastle-under-Lyme in November 1384, 1385, 1386, January 1390, 1395 and January 1397. Caesar Colclough (1696-1766) was a Member of Parliament for County Wexford in the Irish House of Commons.The Colclough Baronetcy, of Tintern Abbey, County Wexford, was created in the baronetage of Ireland on...
Another 76 words (5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Coakly Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Coakly family to Ireland

Some of the Coakly family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 45 words (3 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Coakly migration to the United States +

Thousands of English families in this era began to emigrate the New World in search of land and freedom from religious and political persecution. Although the passage was expensive and the ships were dark, crowded, and unsafe, those who made the voyage safely were rewarded with opportunities unavailable to them in their homeland. Research into passenger and immigration lists has revealed some of the very first Coaklys to arrive in North America:

Coakly Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

John Coakly, aged 21, who arrived in New York in 1854 4

The Coakly Motto +

The motto was originally a war cry or slogan. Mottoes first began to be shown with arms in the 14th and 15th centuries, but were not in general use until the 17th century. Thus the oldest coats of arms generally do not include a motto. Mottoes seldom form part of the grant of arms: Under most heraldic authorities, a motto is an optional component of the coat of arms, and can be added to or changed at will; many families have chosen not to display a motto.

Motto: His calcabo gentes
Motto Translation: By these I will trample on the nations.

Citations +

Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. 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)
Guppy, Henry Brougham, Homes of Family Names in Great Britain. 1890. Print.
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)