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| Origins Available: |
| | England |
The origins of the Kersley name come from when the Anglo-Saxon tribes ruled over Britain. The name Kersley was originally derived from a family having lived in the settlement of Kearsley in Lancashire. The surname Kersley belongs to the large category of Anglo-Saxon habitation names, which are derived from pre-existing names for towns, villages, parishes, or farmsteads.
The surname Kersley was first found in Lancashire at Kearsley, now part of Greater Manchester. The first records of the place were found in 1187 when it was spelt Cherselawe and a few years later as Kereleie (c. 1220. ) The name literally means "clearing where cress grows" having derived from the Old English words caerse + leah. 1 There is another Kearsley, a township in the parish of Stamfordham, in Northumberland, but this township has remained rather small in comparison as a census in the late 1800s listed only 11 inhabitants, while the former township in Lancashire had 3,436 inhabitants in the same census.
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Kersley research. Another 87 words (6 lines of text) covering the year 1210 is included under the topic Early Kersley History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Before English spelling was standardized a few hundred years ago, spelling variations of names were a common occurrence. Elements of Latin, French and other languages became incorporated into English through the Middle Ages, and name spellings changed even among the literate. The variations of the surname Kersley include Kearsley, Kearsey, Keasley, Kersley and others.
More information is included under the topic Early Kersley Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
A great wave of immigration to the New World was the result of the enormous political and religious disarray that struck England at that time. Families left for the New World in extremely large numbers. The long journey was the end of many immigrants and many more arrived sick and starving. Still, those who made it were rewarded with an opportunity far greater than they had known at home in England. These emigrant families went on to make significant contributions to these emerging colonies in which they settled. Some of the first North American settlers carried this name or one of its variants: