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![Show Contents]() Toplady History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms
- Origins Available:
 England
Toplady is an ancient Norman name that arrived in England after the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Toplady family lived in Yorkshire. The name is derived from a combination of the Old English personal name Topp, and the word leah, meaning wood or clearing, and indicates that the original bearer lived near a wood or clearing owned by someone named Topp. Early Origins of the Toplady familyThe surname Toplady was first found in Yorkshire where they are conjecturally descended from a junior branch of the Percys. Topcliff or Topclive was granted to a Norman Baron named William Percy who later became the Earl of Northumberland and one of the most senior mighty nobles of the land. At the time of the Conquest, Topcliff consisted of a church and a mill on the side of the banks of the River Swale. Early History of the Toplady familyThis web page shows only a small excerpt of our Toplady research. Another 182 words (13 lines of text) covering the years 1391, 1451, 1532, 1593, 1598, 1603, 1604, 1740, 1778, 1832 and 1834 are included under the topic Early Toplady History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Toplady Spelling VariationsMultitudes of spelling variations are a hallmark of Anglo Norman names. Most of these names evolved in the 11th and 12th century, in the time after the Normans introduced their own Norman French language into a country where Old and Middle English had no spelling rules and the languages of the court were French and Latin. To make matters worse, medieval scribes spelled words according to sound, so names frequently appeared differently in the various documents in which they were recorded. The name was spelled Topley, Topler, Topliffe, Topcliff, Topclive, Toppley, Topleif, Toplief, Toplis and many more. Early Notables of the Toplady familyOutstanding amongst the family at this time was - George Topcliff, Member of Parliament for Scarborough (1451); and Augustus Montague Toplady (1740-1778), an Anglican clergyman and hymn-writer
 Toplady migration to the United States | + |
Because of this political and religious unrest within English society, many people decided to immigrate to the colonies. Families left for Ireland, North America, and Australia in enormous numbers, traveling at high cost in extremely inhospitable conditions. The New World in particular was a desirable destination, but the long voyage caused many to arrive sick and starving. Those who made it, though, were welcomed by opportunities far greater than they had known at home in England. Many of these families went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations of Canada and the United States. Analysis of immigration records indicates that some of the first North American immigrants bore the name Toplady or a variant listed above:
Toplady Settlers in United States in the 18th Century- Isabella Toplady, who landed in Virginia in 1703 1
| Contemporary Notables of the name Toplady (post 1700) | + |
- Augustus Montague Toplady (1740-1778), English divine, son of Richard Toplady, a major in the army 2
- Mr. John Toplady, British sheriff, held the joint position of Sheriff of Nottingham, England from 1658 to 1659
- Mr. William Toplady, British sheriff, held the joint position of Sheriff of Nottingham, England from 1662 to 1663
- Mr. Francis Toplady, British sheriff, held the joint position of Sheriff of Nottingham, England from 1631 to 1632, he was Mayor in 1653 and 1660
- 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)
- Wikisource contributors. "Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900." Wikisource . Wikisource , 4 Jun. 2018. Web. 30 Jan. 2019
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Toplady migration to the United States 
