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Lockyer History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

Contemporary Notables Historic Events Related Stories Citations

Lockyer History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The Lockyer name was originally an Anglo-Saxon name that was given to a person who was a locksmith. 1 Occupational names that were derived from the common trades of the medieval era transcended European cultural and linguistic boundaries. Occupational names have remained fairly common in the modern period. This is attested to by the continuing appearance of occupational suffixes at the end of many English surnames. Some of these suffixes include: herd, monger, maker, hewer, smith, and wright.

"It is interesting to notice that while Lockyer has predominated over Locksmith in our personal nomenclature, yet locksmith has nearly ousted lockyer as an occupative term." 2

Early Origins of the Lockyer family

The surname Lockyer was first found in Somerset, where Kirby's Quest listed some of the first entries for the family: Nicholas le Lokyere; and Lucas le Lokier as both residing there, 1 Edward III (during the first year of Edward III's reign.) 3 And this tradition continued through the years as the Register of the University of Oxford lists William Lokier from Somerset in 1604. 2

London had early records for the family too as the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 list Henry le Lockier there at that time. 4

Early History of the Lockyer family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Lockyer research. Another 65 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1294, 1611, 1685, 1698 and 1771 are included under the topic Early Lockyer History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Lockyer Spelling Variations

Only recently has spelling become standardized in the English language. As the English language evolved in the Middle Ages, the spelling of names changed also. The name Lockyer has undergone many spelling variations, including Lockyer, Lockyers, Lockier, Lokier, Locker, Lockweer and many more.

Early Notables of the Lockyer family

Notables of this surname at this time include:

Reverend Edmund Lockyer

Lockyer Ranking

In Newfoundland, Canada, the name Lockyer is the 335^th most popular surname with an estimated 137 people with that name. 5

Lockyer migration to the United States +

To escape the unstable social climate in England of this time, many families boarded ships for the New World with the hope of finding land, opportunity, and greater religious and political freedom. Although the voyages were expensive, crowded, and difficult, those families that arrived often found greater opportunities and freedoms than they could have experienced at home. Many of those families went on to make significant contributions to the rapidly developing colonies in which they settled. Early North American records indicate many people bearing the name Lockyer were among those contributors:

Lockyer Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Thomas Lockyer, who settled in Virginia in 1663

Lockyer Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

John Lockyer, who arrived in Rhode Island in 1701 6
Jacob and Barbara Lockyer, who settled in Charles Town [Charleston], South Carolina in 1766

Lockyer migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Lockyer Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. James Lockyer, English convict who was convicted in Surrey, England for life, transported aboard the "Fairlie" on 14th October 1833, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 7
Mr. James Lockyer, English convict who was convicted in London, England for life, transported aboard the "Charles Kerr" on 6th June 1837, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 8
T.A. Lockyer, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Buckinghamshire" in 1839 9
Henry Lockyer, who arrived in Port Misery aboard the ship "Duchess of Northumberland" in 1839 10
Caroline Lockyer, who arrived in Port Misery aboard the ship "Duchess of Northumberland" in 1839 10
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Lockyer migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Lockyer Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Thomas Lockyer, who landed in Wellington, New Zealand in 1840
Timothy Lockyer, who landed in Wellington, New Zealand in 1842
Thomas Lockyer, aged 39, a carpenter, who arrived in Port Nicholson aboard the ship "London" in 1842
Elizabeth Lockyer, aged 39, who arrived in Port Nicholson aboard the ship "London" in 1842
William Lockyer, aged 19, a carpenter, who arrived in Port Nicholson aboard the ship "London" in 1842
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Contemporary Notables of the name Lockyer (post 1700) +

William Westwood "Bill" Lockyer (b. 1941), American Democratic Party politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from California, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008; Member of California State Senate 11
Malcolm Lockyer (1923-1976), American film composer and conductor
Roger Lockyer (1928-2017), English historian, professor, writer and reader in history at Royal Holloway, University of London
Darren Lockyer (b. 1977), Australian rugby league footballer
Sir Joseph Norman Lockyer FRS (1836-1920), British astronomer who discovered element helium, and founded "Nature" magazine
Edmund Lockyer (1784-1860), British soldier and explorer of Australia, eponym of Lockyer Creek and Lockyer Valley, Queensland
Major General Sir William Lockyer Merewether KCSI CB (1825-1880), British Indian Army officer

Historic Events for the Lockyer family +

HMS Royal Oak

George L.J. Lockyer, British Seaman with the Royal Navy aboard the HMS Royal Oak (1939) when she was torpedoed by U-47 and sunk; he survived the sinking 12

RMS Titanic

Mr. Edward Thomas Lockyer (d. 1912), aged 21, English Third Class passenger from Sandhurst, Kent who sailed aboard the RMS Titanic and died in the sinking and was recovered by CS Mackay-Bennett 13

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)
Dickinson, F.H., Kirby's Quest for Somerset of 16th of Edward the 3rd London: Harrison and Sons, Printers in Ordinary to Her Majesty, St, Martin's Lane, 1889. Print.
Harrison, Henry, Surnames of the United Kingdom: A Concise Etymological Dictionary Baltimore: Geneological Publishing Company, 2013. Print
The order of Common Surnames in 1955 in Newfoundland retrieved on 20th October 2021 (retrieved from Family Names of the Island of Newfoundland by E.R. Seary corrected edition ISBN 0-7735-1782-0)
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)
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 21st September 2022). https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/fairlie
Convict Records of Australia. Retrieved 1st February 2021 from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/charles-kerr
State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) BUCKINGHAMSHIRE 1839. Retrieved from http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1839Buckinghamshire.htm
State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) THE DUCHESS OF NORTHUMBERLAND - 1839. Retrieved from http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1839DuchessOfNorthumberland.htm
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2016, January 19) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
Ships hit by U-boats crew list HMS Royal Oak (08) - (Retrieved 2018 February, 9th) - retrieved from https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/crews/ship68.html
Titanic Passenger List - Titanic Facts. (Retrieved 2016, July 13) . Retrieved from http://www.titanicfacts.net/titanic-passenger-list.html