Stealy Surname History

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

The name Stealy thought to be of Norman heritage. It is a name for a person who was a person who was strong or reliable. The surname Steele is a metaphor likening the constitution of its bearer to the hard metal of the same name.

Early Origins of the Stealy family

The surname Stealy was first found in Cheshire where they held a family seat from very early times where they were Lords of the manor of Giddy Hall near Sandbach, and were granted lands by Duke William of Normandy, their liege Lord, for their distinguished assistance at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 A.D.

They were conjecturally descended from Bigot de Loges, a Norman noble who attended King William at the Battle of Hastings. However, William the Conqueror suppressing an uprising by his northern nobles in 1070, laid waste all of Sandbach, a large district in Cheshire, and the family moved north to Scotland.

Early History of the Stealy family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Stealy research. Another 87 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1259, 1524, 1610, 1616, 1629, 1637, 1643, 1662, 1672, 1680, 1692, 1697, 1729 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Stealy History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Stealy Spelling Variations

Anglo-Norman names are characterized by a multitude of spelling variations. When the Normans became the ruling people of England in the 11th century, they introduced a new language into a society where the main languages of Old and later Middle English had no definite spelling rules. These languages were more often spoken than written, so they blended freely with one another. Contributing to this mixing of tongues was the fact that medieval scribes spelled words according to sound, ensuring that a person's name would appear differently in nearly every document in which it was recorded. The name has been spelled Steele, Steill, Steel, Steal and others.

Early Notables of the Stealy family

Outstanding amongst the family at this time was William Steele (1610-1680), English lawyer and politician from Sandbach, Cheshire, Lord Chancellor of Ireland, grandfather of Sir Richard Steele of Dublin; Thomas Steele (d. 1643), who was shot for surrendering Beeston Castle in the Civil War; and Laurence Steele (bap...
Another 47 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Stealy Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Stealy family to Ireland

Some of the Stealy family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 98 words (7 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Stealy migration to the United States +

For many English families, the political and religious disarray that plagued their homeland made the frontiers of the New World an attractive prospect. Thousands migrated, aboard cramped disease-ridden ships. They arrived sick, poor, and hungry, but were welcomed in many cases with far greater opportunity than at home in England. Many of these hardy settlers went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations in which they landed. Among early immigrants bearing the name Stealy or a variant listed above were:

Stealy Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Jacob Stealy, aged 25, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1732 1

Stealy migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Stealy Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century

Mr. Martin Stealy U.E. who settled in Eastern District, Matilda [South Dundas], Ontario c. 1786 he served in the Royal Regiment of New York, who arrived with his wife 2

Contemporary Notables of the name Stealy (post 1700) +

Eva Ann Stealy (1866-1943), American politician, Prohibition Candidate for Presidential Elector for Michigan, 1940

Citations +

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)
Rubincam, Milton. The Old United Empire Loyalists List. Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc, 1976. (Originally published as; United Empire Loyalists. The Centennial of the Settlement of Upper Canada. Rose Publishing Company, 1885.) ISBN 0-8063-0331-X