Show ContentsBeely History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The Beely surname is thought to have been created from one of the places so named (in Northumberland, and in West Yorkshire). The place name derives from the Old English "beo," meaning "bee" and "hyll," meaning "hill." There is also a Norman name Beely derived from the Old French "bel."

Early Origins of the Beely family

The surname Beely was first found in Northumberland. Today Beeley is a village and civil parish in the Derbyshire Dales district of northern Derbyshire, near Bakewell. In the Domesday Book, the place name was listed as Begelie [1]

Also in Northumberland, Beal with Lowlin is a township, in the parish of Kyloe, union of Berwick-Upon-Tweed, in Islandshire. [2] Bealon-the-Hill, is a hamlet in north Durham, close to the sea. "In Testa de Nevill it is spelt Behil, and it is recorded there that Gilbert de Behil held it of the see of Durham." [3] [4]

Raine's History and Antiquities of North Durham notes Thomas de Behil there in 1382 and Laurence Beil in 1517.

The Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379 noted Willelmus Beall as holding lands there at that time. [4]

Early History of the Beely family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Beely research. Another 61 words (4 lines of text) covering the years 1203, 1541, 1601, 1608, 1621, 1632, 1651, 1660, 1664, 1665, 1674, 1683, 1684, 1697, 1699, 1813, 1816, 1820, 1840 and 1854 are included under the topic Early Beely History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Beely Spelling Variations

The name Beely, appeared in many references, and from time to time, the surname was spelt Beal, Beale, Beall, Bealle, Beel, Beele, Beales, Bealer and many more.

Early Notables of the Beely family

Notable amongst the family name during their early history was Robert Beale (1541-1601), and English diplomatist and antiquary, said to have been descended from a family settled at Woodbridge in Suffolk. [5]William Beale (died 1651), was an English Royalist churchman, Master in turn of Jesus College, Cambridge and St John's College, Cambridge; John Beale (c.1608-1683), an English clergyman, scientific writer, and early Fellow of the Royal Society; Sir John Beale (1621-1684)...
Another 71 words (5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Beely Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.


United States Beely migration to the United States +

The New World beckoned as many of the settlers in Ireland, known as the Scotch/Irish, became disenchanted. They sailed aboard the armada of sailing ships known as the "White Sails" which plied the stormy Atlantic. Some called them, less romantically, the "coffin ships." Amongst the early settlers who could be considered kinsmen of the Beely family, or who bore a variation of the surname Beely were

Beely Settlers in United States in the 17th Century
  • James Beely, who settled in Virginia in 1635
Beely Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • John Beely, who arrived in Iowa in 1873 [6]


  1. Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
  2. Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
  3. Testa de Nevill or "Liber Feodorum" or "Book of Fees," thought to have been written by Ralph de Nevill, for King John (1199–1216)
  4. Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
  5. Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
  6. 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)


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