Wetherly History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The history of the Wetherly family name begins after the Norman Conquest of 1066. They lived at Wetherby in West Yorkshire, a market town and civil parish within the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds. "The Saxon name of this town, whence the present is obviously deduced, was Wederbi, a term intended to designate its situation on a bend of the river Wharfe." 1 Today in the United States, there are two towns listed: Weatherby, Missouri; and Weatherby Lake, Missouri

Early Origins of the Wetherly family

The surname Wetherly was first found in West Yorkshire where one of the first records was of Ivo de Werreby in 1214; and Richard de Wetherby in 1302. 2 Later the Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379 listed Robertas de Wethirby as living there at that time. 3

Conjecturally the Wetherby family are descended from Ralph of Intwood, who held the lands and village of Intwood from Eudo, Steward to William the Conqueror. Intwood consisted of a church, a mill, nine horses, and thirty sheep, as recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086. 4

Wetherby is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Wedrebi, thought to derive from wether- or ram-farm or else meaning "settlement on the bend of a river". 5 Local folklore has it that when heavy snow storms hit the county, Wetherby does not get as much because the "Weather Goes By."

Early History of the Wetherly family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Wetherly research. Another 77 words (6 lines of text) covering the year 1461 is included under the topic Early Wetherly History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Wetherly 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 Wetherby, Weatherby, Wetherbie, Wetherbee, Witherby and many more.

Early Notables of the Wetherly family

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

Wetherly migration to the United States +

Because of the political and religious discontent in England, families began to migrate abroad in enormous numbers. Faced with persecution and starvation at home, the open frontiers and generally less oppressive social environment of the New World seemed tantalizing indeed to many English people. The trip was difficult, and not all made it unscathed, but many of those who did get to Canada and the United States made important contributions to the young nations in which they settled. Some of the first North American settlers with Wetherly name or one of its variants:

Wetherly Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

James Wetherly, who landed in Maryland or Virginia in 1671 6
Susan Wetherly, who landed in Maryland in 1671 6

Wetherly Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Gilbert Wetherly, who arrived in Virginia in 1704 6

Wetherly Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

John Wetherly, aged 57, who arrived in New York in 1812 6

Wetherly migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Wetherly Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. Alexander Wetherly, English convict who was convicted in London, England for 10 years, transported aboard the "Candahar" on 26th March 1842, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 7

Citations +

Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
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)
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)
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 9th December 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/candahar