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![Show Contents]() Gesley History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms
- Origins Available:
 England
Early Origins of the Gesley familyThe surname Gesley was first found in Suffolk at Gazeley, a village and civil parish in the Forest Heath district that dates back to 1219. It was originally listed as Gaysleand which literally meant "woodland clearing of a man called Gaegi," having derived from the Old English personal name + "leah." 1 One of the first records of the surname was in the 13th century when Alexander de Gaseley was listed in the Hundredorum Rolls of 1275. The same source lists Andrew de Gasele in Norfolk. 2 Early History of the Gesley familyThis web page shows only a small excerpt of our Gesley research. Another 50 words (4 lines of text) covering the years 1326, 1630, 1669, 1762, 1824 and 1839 are included under the topic Early Gesley History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Gesley Spelling VariationsGesley has been spelled many different ways. Before English spelling became standardized over the last few hundred years, spelling variations in names were a common occurrence. As the English language changed in the Middle Ages, absorbing pieces of Latin and French, as well as other languages, the spelling of people's names also changed considerably, even over a single lifetime. Spelling variants included: Gazeley, Gazely, Gaselee, Gaselea, Gaysley, Geysley, Gesley, Gezley, Gayslee, Gazelee and many more. Early Notables of the Gesley familyDistinguished members of the family include Sir Stephen Gaselee (1762-1839), Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, the son of Stephen Gaselee, an eminent surgeon at Portsmouth. "On the resignation of Sir John Richardson, he was selected on 1 July 1824 to supply the vacant justiceship in the common pleas, became a serjeant-at-law 5 July 1824, and was knighted at Carlton House on 27 April...
Another 64 words (5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Gesley Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Migration of the Gesley familyIn an attempt to escape the chaos experienced in England, many English families boarded overcrowded and diseased ships sailing for the shores of North America and other British colonies. Those families hardy enough, and lucky enough, to make the passage intact were rewarded with land and a social environment less prone to religious and political persecution. Many of these families became important contributors to the young colonies in which they settled. Early immigration and passenger lists have documented some of the first Gesleys to arrive on North American shores: the name represented in many forms and recorded from the mid 17th century in the great migration from Europe. Migrants settled in the eastern seaboard from Newfoundland, to Maine, to Virginia, the Carolinas, and to the islands. G.H. and G.W. Gazley arrived in San Francisco in 1851..
- Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
- Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
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