The name MacCloy came to England with the ancestors of the MacCloy family in the Norman Conquest of 1066. The MacCloy family lived in Worcestershire. The earliest instances of the name in England appear for the most part to be of local origin; that is, derived from the name of the place where an original bearer lived or where he once held land, the place in this instance being a hlaw, the Old English word for a hill. Any individual case may also be of nickname origin, deriving from loup, the Old French word for a wolf, or from one of the pet-names for Lawrence, such as Law or Low.
The surname MacCloy was first found in Worcestershire. Later, a branch of the family was found at Alderwasley in Derbyshire. " The Le Foune or Fawne family held lands here in the reign of Henry III., and their heiress intermarried with the Lowes, who obtained a grant of the manor from Henry VIII." [1]
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our MacCloy research. Another 93 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1275, 1433, 1439, 1318, 1594, 1682, 1640, 1644, 1628, 1667, 1661, 1667, 1690, 1724, 1720 and are included under the topic Early MacCloy History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Multitudes of spelling variations are a hallmark of Anglo Norman names. Most of these names evolved in the 11th and 12th century, in the time after the Normans introduced their own Norman French language into a country where Old and Middle English had no spelling rules and the languages of the court were French and Latin. To make matters worse, medieval scribes spelled words according to sound, so names frequently appeared differently in the various documents in which they were recorded. The name was spelled Lowe, Lowes, Lowis, Lowse, Low, McLoy and others.
Outstanding amongst the family at this time was Humphrey Lowe, High Sheriff of Shropshire; George Lowe (c. 1594-1682), an English politician, Member of Parliament for Calne (1640-1644), a Royalist supporter; John Lowe (1628-1667), an English politician who sat...
Another 38 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early MacCloy Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Some of the MacCloy family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 87 words (6 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Because of this political and religious unrest within English society, many people decided to immigrate to the colonies. Families left for Ireland, North America, and Australia in enormous numbers, traveling at high cost in extremely inhospitable conditions. The New World in particular was a desirable destination, but the long voyage caused many to arrive sick and starving. Those who made it, though, were welcomed by opportunities far greater than they had known at home in England. Many of these families went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations of Canada and the United States. Analysis of immigration records indicates that some of the first North American immigrants bore the name MacCloy or a variant listed above: