First found in Shropshire where they were seated from early times and their first records appeared on the early census rolls taken by the early Kings of Britain to determine the rate of taxation of their subjects.

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 Oatley were among those contributors: Thomas Otley, who is on record in Virginia in 1618; Abraham and Adam Otley, who both arrived in Lynn, Massachusetts in 1641; Darcy Oatly, who was on record in Virginia in 1657.

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