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Wheatley History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables World Ranking

United States Canada Australia New Zealand West Indies

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Suggested Reading Citations

Wheatley History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Wheatley is one of the many new names that came to England following the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Wheatley family lived in Somerset, at the village of Whatley. Whateley Hall was a stately home in the Warwickshire countryside near Castle Bromwich. Built in the 18th century, the hall and the estate was demolished in the 1930s and the land was sold to build houses.

Early Origins of the Wheatley family

The surname Wheatley was first found in Somerset in the village and manor of Whatley near Frome, where they are conjecturally believed to be descended from the possessor of those lands, at the taking of the Domesday Survey in 1086, John the Usher, from Glastonbury Abbey. The Wheatley variant can be found throughout England, specifically: Wheatley, Oxfordshire; Wheatley Lane in Lancashire; and North and South Wheatley in Nottinghamshire. The two latter villages are listed in the Domesday Book as Watelei and Wateleie. 1 Literally, Wheately means "clearing where wheat is grown," from the Old English "hwaete" + "leah." 2

Some believe that Anne Whateley was William Shakespeare's first betrothed; whether she even existed is much in debate. A William Shakspeare and Anne Whateley do appear on the same line in a note in the Episcopal register at Worcester, but some claim that there were numerous William Shakespeares in that area at that time and was obviously another person. Others believe that entry was a clerical error. The debate continues.

Early History of the Wheatley family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Wheatley research. Another 129 words (9 lines of text) covering the years 1330, 1582, 1583, 1639, 1686, 1742, 1747, 1753, 1768, 1784 and 1801 are included under the topic Early Wheatley History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Wheatley Spelling Variations

Anglo-Norman names tend to be marked by an enormous number of spelling variations. This is largely due to the fact that Old and Middle English lacked any spelling rules when Norman French was introduced in the 11th century. The languages of the English courts at that time were French and Latin. These various languages mixed quite freely in the evolving social milieu. The final element of this mix is that medieval scribes spelled words according to their sounds rather than any definite rules, so a name was often spelled in as many different ways as the number of documents it appeared in. The name was spelled Whatley, Whatly, Whately, Wheatley, Whetly, Whettell and many more.

Early Notables of the Wheatley family

Outstanding amongst the family at this time was

Francis Wheatley (1747-1801), was an English portrait and landscape painter; and Phillis Wheatley (1753-1784), was the first published African American poet

Wheatley World Ranking

In the United States, the name Wheatley is the 2,328^th most popular surname with an estimated 12,435 people with that name. 3 However, in Australia, the name Wheatley is ranked the 866^th most popular surname with an estimated 4,581 people with that name. 4 And in the United Kingdom, the name Wheatley is the 676^th popular surname with an estimated 9,740 people with that name. 5

Wheatley migration to the United States +

Because of the political and religious discontent in England, families began to migrate abroad in enormous numbers. Faced with persecution and starvation at home, the open frontiers and generally less oppressive social environment of the New World seemed tantalizing indeed to many English people. The trip was difficult, and not all made it unscathed, but many of those who did get to Canada and the United States made important contributions to the young nations in which they settled. Some of the first North American settlers with Wheatley name or one of its variants:

Wheatley Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Christopher Wheatley, aged 28, who arrived in Virginia in 1635 6
John Wheatley, who landed in Maryland in 1641 6
William Wheatley, who arrived in Maryland in 1643 6
David Wheatley, who landed in Virginia in 1645 6
Eliza Wheatley, who arrived in Virginia in 1649 6
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Wheatley Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Solomon Wheatley, who arrived in Virginia in 1702 6
Henry Wheatley, who arrived in South Carolina in 1716-1717 6
Phillis Wheatley, who landed in New England in 1761 6

Wheatley Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Elizabeth Wheatley, aged 19, who landed in Massachusetts in 1813 6

Wheatley migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Wheatley Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century

Thomas Wheatley, who settled in Fort Cumberland, Nova Scotia, in 1775
Thomas Wheatley, aged 53, who landed in Fort Cumberland, Nova Scotia in 1775

Wheatley migration to Australia +

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

Wheatley Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. John Wheatley, English convict who was convicted in Norfolk, England for 14 years, transported aboard the "Fame" on 9th October 1816, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 7
Mr. William Wheatley, British Convict who was convicted in Surrey, England for life, transported aboard the "Batavia" in October 1817, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 8
Mr. John Wheatley, (b. 1806), aged 15, English convict who was convicted in Leicester, Leicestershire, England for 7 years for grand larceny, transported aboard the "Claudine" on 20th May 1821, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 9
Mr. William Wheatley, British Convict who was convicted in Middlesex, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Earl St Vincent" on 20th April 1826, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 10
Mr. Isaac Wheatley, English convict who was convicted in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "David Lyon" on 29th April 1830, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 11
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Wheatley migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Wheatley Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Mary F. Wheatley, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Zealandia" in 1861
George Wheatley, aged 21, a farm labourer, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Rodney" in 1875
Henry Wheatley, aged 24, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Hurunui" in 1877

Wheatley 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. 12

Wheatley Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century

Mary Wheatley, who settled in Barbados in 1663

Contemporary Notables of the name Wheatley (post 1700) +

Mark A. Wheatley, American politician, Member of the Utah House of Representatives (2004-)
Phillis Wheatley (1753-1784), American poet, born in Africa, sold into slavery at the age of seven in 1761 and transported to America, house slave for Boston merchant John Wheatley from who she took the surname, considered the first important black writer in the United States, eponym of Wheatley, a Venusian crater
Blane Wheatley (b. 1963), American film actor, known for Monarch of the Moon (2005), The Unnamable (1988) and Bluegrass (1988)
Tyrone Anthony Wheatley (b. 1972), American running backs coach of the Buffalo Bills
Jane Wheatley (1881-1935), American stage actress
Thomas Wheatley (b. 1951), English actor born in Chelmsford, Essex, England, nown for The Living Daylights (1987), Death at a Funeral (2007) and Selling Hitler (1991)
Ben Wheatley (b. 1972), English multi-award winning actor, born in Billericay, Essex, England, known for Free Fire (2016), Kill List (2011) and Sightseers (2012)
Francis Wheatley VC, DCM (1821-1865), English recipient of the Victoria Cross for his actions during the Crimean War
Francis Wheatley RA (1747-1801), English portrait and landscape painter
John David Patrick Wheatley (1899-1967), English tennis player who played at Wimbledon, in the Olympics and in the Davis Cup
... (Another 15 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Citations +

Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
"Most Common Last Names in Australia." Forebears, https://forebears.io/australia/surnames
"UK surname ranking." UK Surname map, https://www.surnamemap.eu/unitedkingdom/surnames_ranking.php?p=10
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 27th September 2022). https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/fairlie
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 30th September 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/batavia
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 17th February 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/claudine
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 14th September 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/earl-st-vincent
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 3rd June 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/david-lyon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies