Show ContentsKeenleyside History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Early Origins of the Keenleyside family

The surname Keenleyside was first found in Cumberland at Kinneyside, a township, in the parish of St. Bees, union of Whitehaven, Allerdale ward above Derwent. 1 2

Early History of the Keenleyside family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Keenleyside research. Another 77 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1455 and 1487 are included under the topic Early Keenleyside History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Keenleyside Spelling Variations

Sound was what guided spelling in the essentially pre-literate Middle Ages, so one person's name was often recorded under several variations during a single lifetime. Also, before the advent of the printing press and the first dictionaries, the English language was not standardized. Therefore, spelling variations were common, even among the names of the most literate people. Known variations of the Keenleyside family name include Keenleyside, Keenliside, Keenlyside, Kindleyside and many more.

Early Notables of the Keenleyside family

Distinguished members of the family include

  • the Keenleyside family of Cumberland

Migration of the Keenleyside family

For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, Canada, the America colonies, and many of smaller tropical colonies in the hope of finding better lives abroad. Although the passage on the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving, those families that survived the trip often went on to make valuable contributions to those new societies to which they arrived. Early immigrants bearing the Keenleyside surname or a spelling variation of the name include: the name represented in many forms and recorded from the mid 17th century in the great migration from Europe. Migrants settled in the eastern seaboard from Newfoundland, to Maine, to Virginia, the Carolinas, and to the islands..



  1. Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
  2. Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)


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