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Show ContentsOffalay History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

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Family Crest Download (JPG) Heritage Series - 600 DPI

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Early Origins of the Offalay family

The surname Offalay was first found in Hertfordshire at Offley, a civil parish that includes the main village Great Offley. Little Offley is a small hamlet lying 1½ miles north-west of Great Offley. Collectively, this ancient Saxon settlement dates back to 944-6 when it was first listed as Offanlege. 1 By the Domesday Book of 1086, the villages were known as Offelei. 2 The place name literally means "woodland clearing of a man called Offa," from the Old English personal name + "leah." 1 Another source claims "this place received its name from King Offa (died 796), who is said to have died here." 3

Early History of the Offalay family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Offalay research. Another 89 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1547, 1556, 1582, 1649, 1666, 1708, 1716, 1742 and 1829 are included under the topic Early Offalay History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Offalay Spelling Variations

Only recently has spelling become standardized in the English language. As the English language evolved in the Middle Ages, the spelling of names changed also. The name Offalay has undergone many spelling variations, including Offley, Offlie, Offly, Offaly, Offally, Offalie and others.

Early Notables of the Offalay family

Distinguished members of the family include Robert Offley who inherited Norton Hall, an English country house situated on Norton Church Road in the suburb of Norton in Sheffield in 1666. The family held the estates for many generations including Stephen Offley who was High Sheriff of Derbyshire in 1716. Thomas Offley (d. 1582) a wool and cloth merchant, bought Madeley Old Manor was a medieval manor house at Madeley, Staffordshire from Sir Francis Poyntz in 1547. He was Lord Mayor of London in 1556...
Another 84 words (6 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Offalay Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Offalay family

To escape the unstable social climate in England of this time, many families boarded ships for the New World with the hope of finding land, opportunity, and greater religious and political freedom. Although the voyages were expensive, crowded, and difficult, those families that arrived often found greater opportunities and freedoms than they could have experienced at home. Many of those families went on to make significant contributions to the rapidly developing colonies in which they settled. Early North American records indicate many people bearing the name Offalay were among those contributors: Daniel and David Offley who settled in Boston Massachusetts in 1635; John H. Offley settled in Baltimore Maryland in 1823.
  1. Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
  2. Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
  3. Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
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