Contents [hide]

Hadley History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

United States Canada Australia New Zealand

Contemporary Notables Historic Events Related Stories Suggested Reading Citations

Hadley History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Hadley is a name whose history is connected to the ancient Anglo-Saxon tribes of Britain. The name is derived from when the Hadley family once lived in Hadleigh or Hadley, a place-name found in numerous locations in England. The root of these names is common, however; they are all derived from the Old English roots hæth and leah, which taken together mean "forest clearing where the heather grows." 1

Early Origins of the Hadley family

The surname Hadley was first found in Essex at Hadleigh, a parish, in the union and hundred of Rochford. 2

Over in Suffolk, Hadleigh was a market-town and parish, in the union and hundred of Cosford. "This town, which was probably founded during the heptarchy, about which period a monastery is said to have been established by one of the Saxon kings, was called by the Anglo-Saxons Headlege, whence it derived its modern name. Some of the kings of East Anglia were interred here; as also was Guthrum, or Gormo, a Danish chief, who submitted to Alfred the Great, and renounced paganism after the defeat of the Danes at the battle of Ethandune, now Eddington, in the county of Wilts: a tomb is still shown in the church as the monument of Guthrum (who died in 889)" 2

"In Essex and Suffolk I find two parishes of Hadleigh, and in Middlesex a parish Hadley." 3 Another source notes: "Hædleáh in an Anglo-Saxon will of the 10th century." 4

The first record of the family was indeed found in Suffolk. Matilda de Hadlega was listed there in the Pipe Rolls of 1194. Warin de Hadlai was listed in the Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire in 1212 and John Hadley was listed in the Feet of Fines for Essex in 1390. 5

Early History of the Hadley family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Hadley research. Another 67 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1194, 1379, 1682, 1685, 1691, 1730, 1731, 1744, 1749, 1753, 1756, 1760, 1763, 1764, 1768, 1771 and 1798 are included under the topic Early Hadley History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Hadley 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 Hadley family name include Hadley, Hadleigh and others.

Early Notables of the Hadley family

Notables of the family at this time include

George Hadley (1685-1768), an English lawyer and amateur meteorologist, eponym of the Hadley cell and The Met Office Hadley Centre for Climate Change
John Hadley (1682-1744), was an English mathematician, inventor of the octant and precursor to the sextant around 1730. Mons Hadley and Rima Hadley on the Moon are named after him. He was the son of G...
John Hadley MD (1731-1764), the Professor of chemistry at Cambridge, eldest son of Henry Hadley (brother of John Hadley, mathematician [q. v.]) and Ann Hoffman (?), was born in London in 1731, and ent...
George Hadley (d. 1798), the English Orientalist, was appointed a cadet in the East India Company's service in 1763, and gained his first commission on the Bengal establishment on 19 June of that year...

Hadley Ranking

In the United States, the name Hadley is the 1,561^st most popular surname with an estimated 19,896 people with that name. 6 However, in the United Kingdom, the name Hadley is ranked the 952^nd most popular surname with an estimated 7,313 people with that name. 7

Hadley 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 Hadley surname or a spelling variation of the name include:

Hadley Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

George Hadley, who settled in Salem Massachusetts in 1630
Jobn Hadley, who landed in Virginia in 1684 8

Hadley Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Ambrose Hadley, who arrived in Virginia in 1701 8
John Hadley, who arrived in Virginia in 1703 8
Margaret Hadley, who arrived in Virginia in 1713 8
Martha Hadley, who arrived in Maryland in 1736
David and John Hadley, who settled in Virginia in 1772

Hadley Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

E Hadley, who arrived in San Francisco, California in 1851 8
T Hadley, who arrived in San Francisco, California in 1851 8
Mrs. R. Hadley, who arrived in San Francisco with her child in 1860
Miss Eliza R. Hadley, aged 4, British settler who arrived in New York aboard the ship "Cynosure" in 1863
Mr. George Hadley, aged 49, British settler who arrived in New York aboard the ship "Cynosure" in 1863
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Hadley migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Hadley Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century

Sam Hadley, who landed in Nova Scotia in 1750

Hadley Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century

William Hadley, who landed in Canada in 1833

Hadley migration to Australia +

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

Hadley Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. Jonathan Hadley, British Convict who was convicted in Northampton, Northamptonshire, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Coromandel" on 27th October 1819, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 9
Mr. Thomas Hadley, British Convict who was convicted in Warwick, Warwickshire, England for 14 years, transported aboard the "Coromandel" on 27th October 1819, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 9
Mr. Joseph Hadley, English convict who was convicted in Warwick, Warwickshire, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Aurora" on 18th June 1835, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 10
Mr. John Hadley, (b. 1821), aged 21, English striker who was convicted in Stafford, Staffordshire, England for 7 years for stealing, transported aboard the "Eden" on 12th March 1842, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Island), he died in 1891 11
Mr. George Hadley, English convict who was convicted in Surrey, England for 14 years, transported aboard the "Emerald Isle" on 25th June 1842, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 12
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Hadley 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:

Hadley Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Ada Hadley, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Abernyte" in 1876
Percy Hadley, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Abernyte" in 1876

Contemporary Notables of the name Hadley (post 1700) +

William Flavius Lester Hadley (1847-1901), American politician, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois (1895-1897)
William Allen Hadley (1860-1941), American academic, founder of the Hadley School for the Blind in Winnetka, Illinois
William Moore "Bill" Hadley (1917-1992), American academic, early proponent of the middle school movement in the United States
Jackson Hadley (1815-1867), American Democratic politician and businessman
Herbert Spencer Hadley (1872-1927), American lawyer and politician, 32nd Governor of Missouri (1909-1913), 24th Attorney General of Missouri (1905-1909)
Mary Alice Hadley, American potter, founder of Hadley Pottery, an American-based pottery and stoneware company in 1939
Stephen John Hadley (b. 1947), U.S. Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs (1989-1993), Deputy National Security Advisor (2001-2005), 21st National Security Advisor (2005-2009)
Arthur Twining Hadley (1856-1930), American economist and academic, 13th President of Yale University (1899-1921)
Jerry Hadley (1952-2007), American three-time Grammy award operatic tenor
Henry Kimball Hadley (1871-1937), American composer and conductor
... (Another 10 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Historic Events for the Hadley family +

HMS Hood

Mr. Alan E Hadley (b. 1923), Canadian Ordinary Seaman serving for the Royal Navy from Montreal, Canada, who sailed into battle and died in the HMS Hood sinking 13

HMS Repulse

Mr. James Bruce Douglas Hadley (1919-1942), English Leading Seaman from Brownhills Green, Coventry, England, who sailed into battle on the HMS Repulse and survived the sinking, also sailed aboard the HMS Li Wo, died in 1942 14

Senghenydd colliery

Mr. Alfred James Hadley (b. 1854), Welsh coal miner from Senghenydd, Caerphilly, Wales who was working at the Senghenydd colliery when there was an explosion on the 14th October 1913; he died

SS Atlantic

Margaret Hadley, who was traveling aboard the ship "SS Atlantic" when it struck rocks off Nova Scotia in 1873, died in the sinking

Citations +

Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, 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)
Harrison, Henry, Surnames of the United Kingdom: A Concise Etymological Dictionary Baltimore: Geneological Publishing Company, 2013. Print
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
"UK surname ranking." UK Surname map, https://www.surnamemap.eu/unitedkingdom/surnames_ranking.php?p=10
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 12th March 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/coromandel
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 20th August 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/aurora
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 15th December 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/eden
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 27th March 2022). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/emily
H.M.S. Hood Association-Battle Cruiser Hood: Crew Information - H.M.S. Hood Rolls of Honour, Men Lost in the Sinking of H.M.S. Hood, 24th May 1941. (Retrieved 2016, July 15) . Retrieved from http://www.hmshood.com/crew/memorial/roh_24may41.htm
HMS Repulse Crew members. (Retrieved 2014, April 9) . Retrieved from http://www.forcez-survivors.org.uk/biographies/listrepulsecrew.html