Gateley History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Scotland

The chronicles of the Gateley family reach back into Scottish history to an ancient tribe known as the Picts. The ancestors of the Gateley family lived in some place which is now obscure. The surname Gateley belongs to the category of habitation names, which are derived from pre-existing names for towns, villages, parishes, or farmsteads. 1

Other sources claim the name is "a nickname for messenger, runner, 2 or "a messenger or runner [who] was fleet of foot." 3

Early Origins of the Gateley family

The surname Gateley was first found in Perthshire (Gaelic: Siorrachd Pheairt) former county in the present day Council Area of Perth and Kinross, located in central Scotland, where they held a family seat from very ancient times, some say well before the Norman Conquest and the arrival of Duke William at Hastings in 1066 A.D.

Early History of the Gateley family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Gateley research. Another 79 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1291, 1296, 1745, 1762, 1784 and 1789 are included under the topic Early Gateley History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Gateley Spelling Variations

When the first dictionaries were invented in the last few hundred years, spelling gradually became standardized. Before that time, scribes spelled according to sound. Names were often recorded under different spelling variations every time they were written. Gateley has been written Galletly, Gallightly, Gellatly, Gellately, Gillatly, Golightly and many more.

Early Notables of the Gateley family

Notable amongst the Clan at this time was Anne Catleyborn, born in 1745 in an alley near "Tower Hill, London of very humble parents, her father being a hackney coachman, and her mother a washerwoman. Endowed with great personal beauty, a charming voice, and a natural talent for singing, she gained her living at the early age of 10 years by singing in the public houses in the neighbourhood, and also for the diversion of the officers quartered in the Tower. When about 15 years of age she was...
Another 88 words (6 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Gateley Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Gateley migration to the United States +

The crossing to North America did not seem so great in comparison with the hardships many Scots endured at home. It was long, expensive, and cramped, but also rewarding. North America offered land and the chance for settlers to prove themselves in a new place. And many did prove themselves as they fought to forge a new nation in the American War of Independence. The ancestors of those Scots can now experience much of their once-lost heritage through the Clan societies and highland games that have sprung up across North America in the last century. A search of immigration and passenger lists revealed many important, early immigrants to North America bearing the name of Gateley:

Gateley Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Eleanor W Gateley, who landed in Michigan in 1868 4

Gateley Settlers in United States in the 20th Century

Eleanor Wood Gateley, who arrived in Colorado in 1906 4
Mary Gateley, aged 24, who arrived in America, in 1906
Mary Gateley, aged 18, who arrived in America from Chimney Park, Ireland, in 1910
Mary Ann Gateley, aged 34, who arrived in America, in 1910
Bernard Thomas Gateley, aged 22, who arrived in America from London, England, in 1914
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Gateley 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:

Gateley Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Charles Gateley, who landed in Wellington, New Zealand in 1840
Anna E. Gateley, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Triumph" in 1883
Willia D. Gateley, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Triumph" in 1883
Minnie Gateley, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Triumph" in 1883

Contemporary Notables of the name Gateley (post 1700) +

James David "Jimmy" Gateley (1931-1985), American fiddle player, best known for his work with Bill Anderson
Edwina Gateley, English-born, American missionary founding Volunteer Missionary Movement
Liz Gateley, American senior vice president, series development, for MTV
Michael Anthony Gateley (b. 1904), Indian gold medalist field hockey player at the 1928 Summer Olympics

The Gateley Motto +

The motto was originally a war cry or slogan. Mottoes first began to be shown with arms in the 14th and 15th centuries, but were not in general use until the 17th century. Thus the oldest coats of arms generally do not include a motto. Mottoes seldom form part of the grant of arms: Under most heraldic authorities, a motto is an optional component of the coat of arms, and can be added to or changed at will; many families have chosen not to display a motto.

Motto: Hactenus invictus
Motto Translation: Hitherto unconquered.

Citations +

Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Harrison, Henry, Surnames of the United Kingdom: A Concise Etymological Dictionary Baltimore: Geneological Publishing Company, 2013. Print
Smith, Eldson Coles, New Dictionary of American Family Names New York: Harper & Row, 1956. Print
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)