Steeley History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

The name Steeley comes from the ancient Norman culture that was established in Britain after the Conquest of 1066. It was a name for a person who was strong or reliable. The surname Steele is a metaphor likening the constitution of its bearer to the hard metal of the same name.

Early Origins of the Steeley family

The surname Steeley was first found in Cheshire where they held a family seat from very early times where they were Lords of the manor of Giddy Hall near Sandbach, and were granted lands by Duke William of Normandy, their liege Lord, for their distinguished assistance at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 A.D.

They were conjecturally descended from Bigot de Loges, a Norman noble who attended King William at the Battle of Hastings. However, William the Conqueror suppressing an uprising by his northern nobles in 1070, laid waste all of Sandbach, a large district in Cheshire, and the family moved north to Scotland.

Early History of the Steeley family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Steeley research. Another 87 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1259, 1524, 1610, 1616, 1629, 1637, 1643, 1662, 1672, 1680, 1692, 1697, 1729 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Steeley History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Steeley Spelling Variations

Anglo-Norman names are characterized by a multitude of spelling variations. When the Normans became the ruling people of England in the 11th century, they introduced a new language into a society where the main languages of Old and later Middle English had no definite spelling rules. These languages were more often spoken than written, so they blended freely with one another. Contributing to this mixing of tongues was the fact that medieval scribes spelled words according to sound, ensuring that a person's name would appear differently in nearly every document in which it was recorded. The name has been spelled Steele, Steill, Steel, Steal and others.

Early Notables of the Steeley family

Outstanding amongst the family at this time was William Steele (1610-1680), English lawyer and politician from Sandbach, Cheshire, Lord Chancellor of Ireland, grandfather of Sir Richard Steele of Dublin; Thomas Steele (d. 1643), who was shot for surrendering Beeston Castle in the Civil War; and Laurence Steele (bap...
Another 47 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Steeley Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Steeley family to Ireland

Some of the Steeley family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 98 words (7 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Steeley migration to the United States +

For many English families, the political and religious disarray that plagued their homeland made the frontiers of the New World an attractive prospect. Thousands migrated, aboard cramped disease-ridden ships. They arrived sick, poor, and hungry, but were welcomed in many cases with far greater opportunity than at home in England. Many of these hardy settlers went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations in which they landed. Among early immigrants bearing the name Steeley or a variant listed above were:

Steeley Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Malichiest Steeley, aged 24, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1743 1

Steeley Settlers in United States in the 20th Century

Wm. E. Steeley, aged 42, who immigrated to the United States, in 1919
William E. Steeley, aged 41, who settled in America, in 1920
William E. Steeley, aged 45, who landed in America, in 1921
Frank Steeley, aged 19, who landed in America, in 1922

Contemporary Notables of the name Steeley (post 1700) +

Professor Jim Steeley, British Professor of Finance / Head of Group at the Ashton Business School, Birmingham

Citations +

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)