Leffer History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The roots of the Anglo-Saxon name Leffer come from when the family resided in the township of Great Lever in Lancashire as well as in Little Lever the chapelry in the parish of Bolton in Lancashire. The Leffer family were industrialists and millers, perhaps giving rise to the modern city of Liverpool, from their own Leaver's Port.

Early Origins of the Leffer family

The surname Leffer was first found in Lancashire at Little Lever, now a large village in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton in Greater Manchester. Great Lever, a township nearby "was long held by the family of Lever, but in the 6th year of Edward IV., Sir Rauff Assheton, Knt., sued out a 'write of right of warde' against Roger Lever, for the recovery of the manor, and obtained judgment against him at the assizes of Lancaster. Lever, however, with a number of dependants of his name, and a large concourse of persons, many of whom had been outlawed, riotously broke into Lancaster Castle, and carried off the record of recovery. Sir Rauff complaining of this outrage to the two houses of parliament, they ordained that the copy of the record which was annexed to his petition should be of the same force and efficacy as the original; and the justices thereupon ordered execution to issue, and reinstated him in the possession, which, notwithstanding, was not undisturbed until some time after. " 1

The village's name was derived from the Old English word "laefre," which means "place where the rushes grow." 2 The first listing of the place name was found in 1212 when it was listed as Parua Lefre. 2 Nearby is Darcy Lever which was the ancestral home of the D'Arcy family since 1590.

Early History of the Leffer family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Leffer research. Another 86 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1521, 1551, 1553 and 1577 are included under the topic Early Leffer History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Leffer Spelling Variations

The English language only became standardized in the last few centuries; therefore,spelling variations are common among early Anglo-Saxon names. As the form of the English language changed, even the spelling of literate people's names evolved. Leffer has been recorded under many different variations, including Lever, Leaver, Leyver and others.

Early Notables of the Leffer family

Another 39 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Leffer Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Leffer migration to the United States +

For many English families, the political and religious disarray that shrouded England made the far away New World an attractive prospect. On cramped disease-ridden ships, thousands migrated to those British colonies that would eventually become Canada and the United States. Those hardy settlers that survived the journey often went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations in which they landed. Analysis of immigration records indicates that some of the first North American immigrants bore the name Leffer or a variant listed above:

Leffer Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

August Leffer, who landed in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pennsylvania in 1868 3

Citations +

Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
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)