Whately History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Whately is a name that came to England in the 11th century wave of migration that was set off by the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Whately family lived in Somerset, at the village of Whatley. Whateley Hall was a stately home in the Warwickshire countryside near Castle Bromwich. Built in the 18th century, the hall and the estate was demolished in the 1930s and the land was sold to build houses.

Early Origins of the Whately family

The surname Whately was first found in Somerset in the village and manor of Whatley near Frome, where they are conjecturally believed to be descended from the possessor of those lands, at the taking of the Domesday Survey in 1086, John the Usher, from Glastonbury Abbey. The Wheatley variant can be found throughout England, specifically: Wheatley, Oxfordshire; Wheatley Lane in Lancashire; and North and South Wheatley in Nottinghamshire. The two latter villages are listed in the Domesday Book as Watelei and Wateleie. 1 Literally, Wheately means "clearing where wheat is grown," from the Old English "hwaete" + "leah." 2

Some believe that Anne Whateley was William Shakespeare's first betrothed; whether she even existed is much in debate. A William Shakspeare and Anne Whateley do appear on the same line in a note in the Episcopal register at Worcester, but some claim that there were numerous William Shakespeares in that area at that time and was obviously another person. Others believe that entry was a clerical error. The debate continues.

Early History of the Whately family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Whately research. Another 129 words (9 lines of text) covering the years 1330, 1582, 1583, 1639, 1686, 1742, 1747, 1753, 1768, 1784 and 1801 are included under the topic Early Whately History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Whately Spelling Variations

Spelling variations in names were a common occurrence in the eras before English spelling was standardized a few hundred years ago. In the Middle Ages, even the literate regularly changed the spellings of their names as the English language incorporated elements of French, Latin, and other European languages. Many variations of the name Whately have been found, including Whatley, Whatly, Whately, Wheatley, Whetly, Whettell and many more.

Early Notables of the Whately family

Outstanding amongst the family at this time was

William Whately (1583-1639), an English Puritan cleric and author, son of Thomas Whately, twice mayor of Banbury, Oxfordshire. He was born at Banbury, the son of John Wheatly, a tradesman of London. (...

Whately migration to Australia +

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

Whately Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. William Whately, British Convict who was convicted in London, England for life, transported aboard the "Earl St Vincent" on 6th April 1820, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 3

Whately 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. 4

Whately Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century

Richard Whately, who settled in Barbados in 1670

Contemporary Notables of the name Whately (post 1700) +

Elizabeth Pope Whately (1795-1860), English writer and the wife of Archbishop Richard Whately
Rev. Canon Joseph Whately (1730-1797), English clergyman and Gresham Professor of Rhetoric, youngest brother of the politician Thomas Whately
Mary Louisa Whately (1824-1889), English missionary in Egypt from Halesworth, Suffolk who spent over 30 years building schools for both girls and boys
Kevin Whately (b. 1951), English actor, best known for his role as Robert "Robbie" Lewis in the crime dramas Inspector Morse and Lewis
Richard Whately (1787-1863), English scholar and prelate, Archbishop of Dublin, fourth son of Joseph Whately of Nonsuch Park, Surrey 5
Mary Monica Whately (1889-1960), British suffragist and political activist from the Brompton area of London
Robert Kirkham Whately (1895-1956), Australian politician.Member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly for Camberwell (1945–1956)
Francis Whately, British television producer, director and series director
Helen Olivia Bicknell Whately (b. 1976), née Lightwood, a British Conservative Party politician, Vice Chairman of the Conservative Party for Women (2018-)
Thomas Whately (1726-1772), British politician, Secretary to the Treasury under Lord Grenville, elder brother of Joseph Whately of Nonsuch Park, Surrey, eponym of Whately, Massachusetts 5

Citations +

Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 10th September 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/earl-st-vincent
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
Wikisource contributors. "Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900." Wikisource . Wikisource , 4 Jun. 2018. Web. 30 Jan. 2019