Lokley History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The name Lokley is of Anglo-Saxon origin and came from when a family lived in the region of Loxley in Staffordshire. 1 Lokley is a topographic surname, which was given to a person who resided near a physical feature such as a hill, stream, church, or type of tree. Habitation names form the other broad category of surnames that were derived from place-names. They were derived from pre-existing names for towns, villages, parishes, or farmsteads.

Early Origins of the Lokley family

The surname Lokley was first found in Staffordshire at Loxley, a liberty, in the parish and union of Uttoxeter, S. division of the hundred of Totmonslow. Alternatively the family could have originated in the parish of Loxley in Warwickshire. The latter was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Locheslei 2 and literally meant "woodland clearing of a man called "Locc," from the Old English personal name + "leah." 3 Interestingly, "Charles I. slept at the old mansion-house of Loxley the night before the battle of Edge-Hill, and many of those who were slain in the engagement were buried in the churchyard here." 4

Richard de Lokesley, taillour, temp. 14 Edward III was listed in the Freemen of York and the Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379 list Thomas de Lokeslay. 5

John de Lokkesleye was listed in the Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire in 1275 and a few years later, John de Loxelegh was listed in the Feet of Fines for Surrey (1315-1316.) 6

Early History of the Lokley family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Lokley research. Another 91 words (6 lines of text) covering the year 1180 is included under the topic Early Lokley History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Lokley 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 Lokley family name include Loxley, Lockley, Locksley and others.

Early Notables of the Lokley family

More information is included under the topic Early Lokley Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Lokley family

For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, the Canadas, 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 Lokley surname or a spelling variation of the name include : Charles Lockley, who settled in Virginia in 1638; Richard Lockley, who arrived in Virginia in 1635; and Joseph Lockly, who arrived in Virginia in 1651..

Citations +

Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
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)
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)