Show ContentsYaxley History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Early Origins of the Yaxley family

The surname Yaxley was first found in Suffolk where they held a family seat as Lords of the Manor. After the Battle of Hastings in 1066, William, Duke of Normandy, having prevailed over King Harold, granted most of Britain to his many victorious Barons. It was not uncommon to find a Baron, or a Bishop, with 60 or more Lordships scattered throughout the country. These he gave to his sons, nephews and other junior lines of his family and they became known as under-tenants. They adopted the Norman system of surnames which identified the under-tenant with his holdings so as to distinguish him from the senior stem of the family. After many rebellious wars between his Barons, Duke William, commissioned a census of all England to determine in 1086, settling once and for all, who held which land. He called the census the Domesday Book, [1] indicating that those holders registered would hold the land until the end of time. Hence, conjecturally, the surname is descended from the tenant of the lands of Yaxley, held by Hubert, a Norman noble from William Malet his over lord, who was recorded in the Domesday Book census of 1086.

Early History of the Yaxley family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Yaxley research. Another 67 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1555, 1565, 1597, 1599, 1611 and 1625 are included under the topic Early Yaxley History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Yaxley Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Yaxley, Yacksley, Yaxly, Yackslie, Yackslee and others.

Early Notables of the Yaxley family

Outstanding amongst the family at this time was

  • Francis Yaxley (died 1565), an English politician and conspirator. In 1555, he was elected member of parliament for Stamford. Later he spent time in the Tower of London but was later released. He was...
  • John Yaxley (died c 1625) was an English lawyer and politician, Member of Parliament for Cambridge (1597-1611.)


United States Yaxley migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Yaxley Settlers in United States in the 18th Century
  • Stephen Yaxley, who settled in America in 1758
  • William Yaxley, who arrived in America in 1760-1765
  • William Yaxley, who arrived in America in 1765 [2]

Contemporary Notables of the name Yaxley (post 1700) +

  • Greta Yaxley, Australian winner of the Junior MasterChef Australia (series 2) in 2011
  • Peter Yaxley (1928-2015), New Zealand rugby league player and referee
  • John Francis Yaxley CBE (b. 1936), British civil servant, Deputy Financial Secretary to the Treasury Bureau under Colonial Hong Kong, (1987 to 1989)
  • Sandra Yaxley OAM, Australian two-time gold, silver and bronze Paralympic swimmer


  1. Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
  2. 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)


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