England
IrelandThe ancient roots of the Kighley family name are in the Anglo-Saxon culture. The name Kighley comes from when the family lived in the settlement of Keighley in the West Riding of Yorkshire. The surname Kighley belongs to the large category of Anglo-Saxon habitation names, which are derived from pre-existing names for towns, villages, parishes, or farmsteads.
The surname Kighley was first found in Yorkshire at Keighley, a market-town and parish, and the head of a union, in the E. division of the wapentake of Staincliffe and Ewcross. [1] The first listing of the place name was Chichelai in the Domesday Book of 1086. [2]
"This place, anciently Kyghelay, was for many generations the property of the Kyghelay family, who either gave their name to, or derived it from, the manor; and of whom Gilbertus Kyghelay, of Utley, was buried here in 1203, according to an inscription on a stone still remaining in the parish church. In the reign of Edward I. Henry de Kyghelay, a member of the family, obtained the grant of a weekly market and an annual fair, with privilege of free warren for the inhabitants." [1]
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Kighley research. Another 94 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1186, 1650, 1719, 1686, 1692, 1621, 1648, 1580, 1643, 1651, 1620, 1621, 1662, 1663, 1789, 1872, 1650, 1719, 1803 and 1824 are included under the topic Early Kighley History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
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 Kighley has appeared include Keightley, Keighley, Keitley, Keightly and others.
Distinguished members of the family include Thomas Keightley (1650-1719), an English courtier and official in Ireland, Vice-Treasurer of Ireland in 1686, Commissioner of the Irish Revenue (1692), progenitor of the family in Ireland. He was the "son of William Keightley (b. 1621) of Hertingfordbury, Hertfordshire, by his wife Anne, daughter of John Williams of London, whom he married in 1648 (Chester, Marriage Licenses, ed. Foster, p. 783). His paternal grandfather...
Another 69 words (5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Kighley Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Migration of the Kighley family to IrelandSome of the Kighley family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 111 words (8 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Kighley migration to the United States +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 Kighley arrived in North America very early:
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