Contents [hide]

Begley History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

United States Canada Australia New Zealand

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Citations

Begley History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Ireland

All Irish surnames have a unique and often romantic meaning. The name Begley originally appeared in Gaelic as Ó Beaglaoich where beag means little, and laoch means hero. 1 First Anglicized as O'Begley, it now appears mostly as Begley, and occasionally Bagley.

Early Origins of the Begley family

The surname Begley was first found in the counties of Cork and Donegal (Irish: Dún na nGall), northwest Ireland in the province of Ulster, sometimes referred to as County Tyrconnel, where they held considerable territories as an important Irish sept directly descended from the line of the Heber Irish Kings. 2

Early History of the Begley family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Begley research. Another 112 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1172, 1732 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Begley History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Begley Spelling Variations

The recording of names in Ireland in the Middle Ages was an inconsistent endeavor at best. The many regional dialects and the predominate illiteracy would have made common surnames appear unrelated to the scribes of the period. Research into the name Begley revealed spelling variations, including Begley, Beegley, Beeghley, Begly, Begeley, Begely, Beagley and many more.

Early Notables of the Begley family

Prominent amongst the family at this time was

Joseph Begley of County Cork and Conor Begley who collaborated in the production of Hugh MacCurtin's English-Irish Dictionary in 1732

Begley Ranking

In the United States, the name Begley is the 2,897^th most popular surname with an estimated 9,948 people with that name. 3

Begley migration to the United States +

Irish families began to immigrate to British North America and the United States in the 18th century, but the greatest influx of Irish immigrants came during the Great Potato Famine of the late 1840s. The earlier settlers came to North America after a great deal of consideration and by paying relatively high fees for their passage. These settlers were primarily drawn by the promise of land. Those later settlers that came during the 1840's were trying to escape the conditions of poverty, starvation, disease, and death that had stricken Ireland. Due to the enormity of their numbers and the late date of their arrival, these immigrants primarily became hired laborers instead of homesteading settlers like their predecessors. An exhaustive search of immigration and passenger lists has revealed many Irish immigrants North America bearing the name Begley:

Begley Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Miss Begley, who arrived in Newport, Rhode Island in 1811 4
John Begley, who landed in New York, NY in 1812 4
Neill Begley, aged 20, who arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1834 4
Peter Begley, who arrived in Philadelphia in 1838
William Begley, who arrived in Philadelphia in 1852
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Begley migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Begley Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century

James Begley, aged 20, a labourer, who arrived in Saint John, New Brunswick in 1834 aboard the brig "Maria" from Cork, Ireland
Martha Begley, aged 50, a spinster, who arrived in Saint John, New Brunswick aboard the ship "Highlander" in 1834
Mr. John Begley, aged 17 who was emigrating through Grosse Isle Quarantine Station, Quebec aboard the ship "Emigrant" departing 11th August 1847 from Liverpool, England; the ship arrived on 3rd October 1847 but he died on board 5
M. Begley, aged 50 who was emigrating through Grosse Isle Quarantine Station, Quebec aboard the ship "Wakefield" departing 28th May 1847 from Cork, Ireland; the ship arrived on 12th July 1847 but they died on board 5
Miss. Margaret Begley, aged 3 who was emigrating through Grosse Isle Quarantine Station, Quebec aboard the ship "Marinus" departing 5th June 1847 from Dublin, Ireland; the ship arrived on 23th August 1847 but she died on board 5
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Begley migration to Australia +

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

Begley Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr.John Begley, (b. 1795), aged 24, Irish shoe maker who was convicted in Dublin, Ireland for 7 years, transported aboard the "Bencoolen" on 24th April 1819, arriving in New South Wales, Australia before being transferred to Tasmania via the "Admiral Cockburn" 6
Patrick Begley, aged 52, a labourer, who arrived in South Australia in 1853 aboard the ship "Shackamaxon" 7
Charles Begley, aged 15, a farm servant, who arrived in South Australia in 1853 aboard the ship "Shackamaxon" 7
James Begley, aged 17, a farm servant, who arrived in South Australia in 1853 aboard the ship "Shackamaxon" 7
Denis Begley, aged 21, a labourer, who arrived in South Australia in 1853 aboard the ship "Shackamaxon" 7
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Begley migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Begley Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Julia Begley, aged 19, a servant, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Wairoa" in 1877

Contemporary Notables of the name Begley (post 1700) +

Sharon Begley (1956-2021), American journalist and senior science writer for Stat, a publication from The Boston Globe
Tobias Begley, American politician, Mayor of Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, 1894-95 8
Owen M. Begley (1906-1981), American Democratic Party politician, Candidate for New York State Assembly from Schenectady County 1st District, 1932, 1933 8
Ott E. Begley, American Republican politician, Member of Kentucky State House of Representatives 93rd District, 1946-47 8
Justus S. Begley (1881-1956), American Republican politician, Perry County Sheriff, 1938-42; Alternate Delegate to Republican National Convention from Kentucky, 1940 8
John S. Begley, American Democratic Party politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Massachusetts, 1940, 1956, 1960, 1964 8
James S. Begley, American Democratic Party politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Massachusetts, 1952 8
James B. Begley, American politician, Mayor of Bridgeton, New Jersey, 2007 8
J. H. Begley, American Democratic Party politician, Alternate Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Nebraska, 1912 8
Elmer Begley Jr., American Republican politician, Candidate in primary for Governor of Kentucky, 1975, 1979 ; Candidate in primary for U.S. Representative from Kentucky 5th District, 1976, 1980 8
... (Another 12 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Citations +

MacLysaght, Edward, The Surnames of Ireland. Ireland: Irish Academic Press, sixth edition, 1985. Print. (ISBN 0-7165-2366-3)
O'Hart, John, Irish Pedigrees 5th Edition in 2 Volumes. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1976. Print. (ISBN 0-8063-0737-4)
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
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)
Charbonneau, André, and Doris Drolet-Dubé. A Register of Deceased Persons at Sea and on Grosse Île in 1847. The Minister of Canadian Heritage, 1997. ISBN: 0-660-198/1-1997E (p. 65)
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 5th October 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/bencoolen
South Australian Register Thursday 20 January 1853. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) SHACKAMAXON 1853. Retrieved http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/australia/shackamaxon1853.shtml
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2016, January 29) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html