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![Show Contents]() Offlay History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms
- Origins Available:
 England
Early Origins of the Offlay familyThe surname Offlay 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 Offlay familyThis web page shows only a small excerpt of our Offlay 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 Offlay History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Offlay Spelling VariationsOne 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 Offlay has appeared include Offley, Offlie, Offly, Offaly, Offally, Offalie and others. Early Notables of the Offlay familyDistinguished 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 Offlay Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Migration of the Offlay familyAt 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 Offlay arrived in North America very early: Daniel and David Offley who settled in Boston Massachusetts in 1635; John H. Offley settled in Baltimore Maryland in 1823.
- Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
- Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
- Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
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