Steels History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

The Norman name Steels was originally used for a person who was 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 Steels family

The surname Steels 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 Steels family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Steels 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 Steels History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Steels Spelling Variations

Anglo-Norman names tend to be marked by an enormous number of spelling variations. This is largely due to the fact that Old and Middle English lacked any spelling rules when Norman French was introduced in the 11th century. The languages of the English courts at that time were French and Latin. These various languages mixed quite freely in the evolving social milieu. The final element of this mix is that medieval scribes spelled words according to their sounds rather than any definite rules, so a name was often spelled in as many different ways as the number of documents it appeared in. The name was spelled Steele, Steill, Steel, Steal and others.

Early Notables of the Steels 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 Steels Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Steels family to Ireland

Some of the Steels 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.

Steels migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Steels Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Clara Steels, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Triumph" in 1883