| {{ad}} |
|
|
|
The present generation of the Bazley family is only the most recent to bear a name that dates back to the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture of Britain. Their name comes from having lived in Beesley, in the county of Lancashire. 1 The place name literally means 'woodland clearing' having derived from the Old English beos 'bent grass' + leah. 2
However, one source claims the family came from Baslow, a chapelry, in the parish and union of Bakewell, hundred of High Peak in Derbyshire. 3
The surname Bazley was first found in Lancashire where Thomas de Besleg was listed in the Assize Rolls for 1246. 1
While this is the generally accepted place of origin, the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 had no mention of the family there in later years, as these rolls listed Hugh filius Basilie, Nottinghamshire; Alan Basel, Cambridgeshire; Richard Baseli, Oxfordshire; John Basely, Cambridgeshire; and Michael Basely, Buckinghamshire. 3
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Bazley research. Another 135 words (10 lines of text) covering the years 1587, 1588, 1591, 1655 and 1729 are included under the topic Early Bazley History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Until the dictionary, an invention of only the last few hundred years, the English language lacked any comprehensive system of spelling rules. Consequently, spelling variations in names are frequently found in early Anglo-Saxon and later Anglo-Norman documents. One person's name was often spelled several different ways over a lifetime. The recorded variations of Bazley include Beazley, Beasley, Beasely, Beesely, Beesley, Bezley, Beasey and many more.
Notables of this surname at this time include: George Beesley or Bisley (d. 1591), English Catholic missioner, born at a place called the Mount, in Goosnargh parish, in Lancashire. "Ordained priest in 1587 he was sent upon the English mission in 1588. Falling into the hands of the persecutors he was so frequently tortured by the notorious Topcliffe...
Another 57 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Bazley Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Thousands of English families boarded ships sailing to the New World in the hope of escaping the unrest found in England at this time. Although the search for opportunity and freedom from persecution abroad took the lives of many because of the cramped conditions and unsanitary nature of the vessels, the opportunity perceived in the growing colonies of North America beckoned. Many of the settlers who survived the journey went on to make important contributions to the transplanted cultures of their adopted countries. The Bazley were among these contributors, for they have been located in early North American records: