Contents [hide]

Sly History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

Ireland United States Australia West Indies

Contemporary Notables Historic Events Related Stories Citations

Sly History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

Early Origins of the Sly family

The surname Sly was first found in Essex, where Walter Sleh was listed in the Feet of Fines in 1219. Thomas Sleh, Slei, Slegh was listed in the Assize Rolls of Lincolnshire in 1219 and Robert Sley was listed in the Assize Rolls of Warwickshire in 1221. 1

The "epithet sly did not primarily imply anything dishonourable; though like 'crafty' and 'cunning' it has since come to be taken in a bad sense. The Slys or Sleighs were skilful men - cunning of hand. We are informed that Sly was anciently a common name in Shakespeare's own town. " 2 The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 include: Ralph Sly in Hertfordshire; John Sley in Cambridgeshire; and John le Slege in Oxfordshire. 3

The hamlet of Ash in Derbyshire was an ancient family seat at one time. "The place was the property of the Sleigh family, from whom it came to the Chethams, and subsequently to the Cottons." 4

Early History of the Sly family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Sly research. Another 153 words (11 lines of text) covering the years 1271, 1275, 1317, 1574, 1674, 1679 and 1756 are included under the topic Early Sly History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Sly Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Sleigh, Sleach, Sleich, Sleech, Sliach, Sleath, Sleith, Sleth, Sleight, Sley, Slie and many more.

Early Notables of the Sly family

Another 31 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Sly Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Sly Ranking

In the United States, the name Sly is the 9,630^th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 5

Migration of the Sly family to Ireland

Some of the Sly family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt. More information about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Sly migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Sly Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

John Sly, who landed in America in 1660
Charles Sly, who arrived in Maryland in 1664 6
John Sly, who arrived in Maryland in 1669 6
Jane Sly, who landed in Maryland in 1678 6
Geo Sly, who landed in Virginia in 1699 6

Sly Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Nicholas Sly, aged 24, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1733 6
Nicholas Sly, who settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1733
John Sly, who settled in Maryland in 1774

Sly Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

George Sly, aged 37, who arrived in New York in 1812 6
John Sly settled in San Francisco, California in 1852
P Sly, who arrived in San Francisco, California in 1855 6

Sly migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Sly Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Miss Elizabeth Sly, (Radford), British Convict who was convicted in Wiltshire, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Earl Cornwallis" in August 1800, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 7
Joseph Sly, English convict from Gloucester, who was transported aboard the "Ann" on August 1809, settling in New South Wales, Australia 8

Sly migration to West Indies +

The British first settled the British West Indies around 1604. They made many attempts but failed in some to establish settlements on the Islands including Saint Lucia and Grenada. By 1627 they had managed to establish settlements on St. Kitts (St. Christopher) and Barbados, but by 1641 the Spanish had moved in and destroyed some of these including those at Providence Island. The British continued to expand the settlements including setting the First Federation in the British West Indies by 1674; some of the islands include Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and Belize then known as British Honduras. By the 1960's many of the islands became independent after the West Indies Federation which existed from 1958 to 1962 failed due to internal political conflicts. After this a number of Eastern Caribbean islands formed a free association. 9

Sly Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century

John Sly, who settled in Barbados in 1670

Contemporary Notables of the name Sly (post 1700) +

W. S. Sly, American politician, Prohibition Candidate for Mayor of Lansing, Michigan, 1902; Prohibition Candidate for U.S. Representative from Michigan 6th District, 1910 10
Joseph Sly, American Democratic Party politician, Postmaster at Point Pleasant, Virginia, 1854-59 10
Jacqueline Sly, American Republican politician, Member of South Dakota State House of Representatives 33rd District; Elected 2010 10
J. B. Sly, American politician, Member of Minnesota State House of Representatives 18th District, 1863 10
Homer Sly, American Republican politician, Mayor of Petoskey, Michigan, 1912-13 10
Connie Sly, American Democratic Party politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Pennsylvania, 2008 10
James C. Sly (1807-1864), Mormon pioneer
Anthony J. Sly (b. 1970), American singer, songwriter and guitarist
Harold Sly (b. 1904), English professional association football player
William Sly (d. 1608), actor in English Renaissance theatre, a colleague of William Shakespeare and Richard Burbage
... (Another 2 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Historic Events for the Sly family +

HMS Prince of Wales

Mr. John Sly, British Leading Cook (S), who sailed into battle on the HMS Prince of Wales (1941) and died in the sinking 11
Mr. Henry Patrick Sly, British Midshipman Royal Navy Reserve, who sailed into battle on the HMS Prince of Wales (1941) and survived the sinking 11

Citations +

Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 13th August 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/earl-cornwallis
State Library of Queensland. (Retrieved 2016, October 27) Ann voyage to New South Wales, Australia in 1809 with 200 passengers. Retrieved from http://www.convictrecords.com.au/ships/ann/1809
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, November 3) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
HMS Prince of Wales Crew members. (Retrieved 2014, April 9) . Retrieved from http://www.forcez-survivors.org.uk/biographies/listprincecrew.html