Chorley is an ancient Norman name that arrived in
England after the
Norman Conquest of 1066. The Chorley family lived in
Lancashire. The name is mainly derived from a place called Chorley in Lancashire. However, there are many other places so named in
England, and isolated cases may derive from those places.
Early Origins of the Chorley family
The surname Chorley was first found in
Lancashire where they held a
family seat from very early times and were granted lands by Duke William of
Normandy, their liege Lord, for their distinguished assistance at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 A.D.
Early History of the Chorley family
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Chorley research.
Another 205 words (15 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Chorley History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Chorley Spelling Variations
Endless
spelling variations are a prevailing characteristic of Norman surnames. Old and Middle English lacked any definite spelling rules, and the introduction of Norman French added an unfamiliar ingredient to the English linguistic stew. French and Latin, the languages of the court, also influenced spellings. Finally, Medieval scribes generally spelled words according to how they sounded, so one person was often referred to by different spellings in different documents. The name has been spelled Chorley, Chorly and others.
Early Notables of the Chorley family (pre 1700)
More information is included under the topic Early Chorley Notables in all our
PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Migration of the Chorley family to the New World and Oceana
To escape the political and religious persecution within
England at the time, many English families left for the various British colonies abroad. The voyage was extremely difficult, though, and the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving. But for those who made it, the trip was most often worth it. Many of the families who arrived went on to make valuable contributions to the emerging nations of Canada and the United States. An inquiry into the early roots of North American families reveals a number of immigrants bearing the name Chorley or a variant listed above:
Chorley Settlers in United States in the 17th Century
- William Chorley, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1682 [1]CITATION[CLOSE]
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) - Joseph Chorley, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1683 [1]CITATION[CLOSE]
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) - Joseph Chorley who settled in Delaware Bay in 1683
- Joseph Chorley, who settled in Virginia in 1690
Chorley Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
- Charles Chorley, who arrived in New Orleans in 1820
- Henry Chorley, who settled in Philadelphia in 1829
Contemporary Notables of the name Chorley (post 1700)
- Henry Fothergill Chorley, English music critic
- Ben Chorley, English football player
- Robert Samuel Theodore Chorley QC (b. 1895), 1st Baron Chorley, a British legal scholar, public servant and Labour politician
- Roger Richard Edward Chorley (b. 1930), 2nd Baron Chorley, a British chartered accountant and peer
- Professor Richard John Chorley (1927-2002), Vice-Master, Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge University
- Charles Chorley, British Parliamentary Council
Historic Events for the Chorley family
- Mr. John Henry Chorley (d. 1912), aged 25, English Fireman/Stoker from Southampton, Hampshire who worked aboard the RMS Titanic and died in the sinking [2]CITATION[CLOSE]
Titanic Passenger List - Titanic Facts. (Retrieved 2016, July 13) . Retrieved from http://www.titanicfacts.net/titanic-passenger-list.html