The ancient roots of the Kearly family name are in the Anglo-Saxon culture. The name Kearly comes from when the family lived in the settlement of Kearsley in Lancashire. The surname Kearly belongs to the large category of Anglo-Saxonhabitation names, which are derived from pre-existing names for towns, villages, parishes, or farmsteads.
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Early Origins of the Kearly family
The surname Kearly 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.
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Early History of the Kearly family
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Kearly research. Another 87 words (6 lines of text) covering the year 1210 is included under the topic Early Kearly History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
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Kearly Spelling Variations
One relatively recent invention that did much to standardize English spelling was the printing press. However, before its invention even the most literate people recorded their names according to sound rather than spelling. The spelling variations under which the name Kearly has appeared include Kearsley, Kearsey, Keasley, Kersley and others.
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Early Notables of the Kearly family
More information is included under the topic Early Kearly Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
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Migration of the Kearly family
At this time, the shores of the New World beckoned many English families that felt that the social climate in England was oppressive and lacked opportunity for change. Thousands left England at great expense in ships that were overcrowded and full of disease. A great portion of these settlers never survived the journey and even a greater number arrived sick, starving, and without a penny. The survivors, however, were often greeted with greater opportunity than they could have experienced back home. These English settlers made significant contributions to those colonies that would eventually become the United States and Canada. An examination of early immigration records and passenger ship lists revealed that people bearing the name Kearly arrived in North America very early: James Kearsley settled in Philadelphia in 1859.
England
