Show ContentsCropley History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Cropley is a name of ancient Anglo-Saxon origin and comes from the family once having lived at Cropredy in Oxford. The surname Cropley originally derived from the Old English word Croppripig which referred to someone who lived at a brook or stream.

Early Origins of the Cropley family

The surname Cropley was first found in Cambridgeshire where they held a family seat from very ancient times, some say well before the Norman Conquest and the arrival of Duke William at Hastings in 1066 A.D.

Early History of the Cropley family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Cropley research. Another 68 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1661, 1663, 1676, 1701, 1710 and 1713 are included under the topic Early Cropley History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Cropley Spelling Variations

Sound was what guided spelling in the essentially pre-literate Middle Ages, so one person's name was often recorded under several variations during a single lifetime. Also, before the advent of the printing press and the first dictionaries, the English language was not standardized. Therefore, spelling variations were common, even among the names of the most literate people. Known variations of the Cropley family name include Cropley, Croply and others.

Early Notables of the Cropley family

Notables of the family at this time include

  • Sir John Cropley, 1st Baronet (d. 1676) of Clerkenwell, Middlesex
  • Sir Edward Cropley of St. James Clerkenwell, Middlesex


United States Cropley migration to the United States +

For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, Canada, the America colonies, and many of smaller tropical colonies in the hope of finding better lives abroad. Although the passage on the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving, those families that survived the trip often went on to make valuable contributions to those new societies to which they arrived. Early immigrants bearing the Cropley surname or a spelling variation of the name include:

Cropley Settlers in United States in the 17th Century
  • John and William Cropley, who settled in Virginia in 1652
  • John Cropley, who landed in Maryland in 1665 [1]
  • Robert Cropley, who arrived in Virginia in 1695 [1]
Cropley Settlers in United States in the 18th Century
  • William Cropley with his wife and son settled in Philadelphia in 1774
Cropley Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • Richard Cropley who settled in Philadelphia in 1819
  • George Cropley, aged 20, who landed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1819 [1]
  • Richard Cropley, aged 45, who arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1819 [1]
  • Edward S Cropley, who landed in America in 1827 [1]

Australia Cropley migration to Australia +

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

Cropley Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century
  • Jeremiah Cropley, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Bolivar" in 1850 [2]

Contemporary Notables of the name Cropley (post 1700) +

  • Charles Elmore Cropley (1894-1952), American Clerk of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1927 until his death in 1952
  • Jack Cropley (b. 1924), Scottish former professional footballer, father of Alex Cropley
  • Alex Cropley (b. 1951), Scottish retired footballer who won two caps for Scotland


  1. 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)
  2. State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) BOLIVAR 1850. Retrieved http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1850Bolivar.gif


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