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Welcome! This website was created on 17 Sep 2011 and last updated on 20 Aug 2023.

There are 13617 names in this family tree.The webmaster of this site is Josie Driver. Please click here if you have any comments or feedback.

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About  HAWLEY Family Trees - One Name Study
This website contains some of the trees of HAWLEY families I have put together so far.  I have many  more people and much more info still to be added.  If you don't find what you want here please  contact me.

Origins of the Hawley Name
 Hereditary surnames in England did not come into use until the 13th and 14th centuries, and even  then were subject to change - for example an apprentice might take his master surname, a husband  might take his wife's family name, particularly if land or title belonged to her.

Even today surnames are customary names and can be changed. A surname change can take place by Deed  Poll but this is not necessary - anyone can be called by the name they chose, as long as there is  no fraudulent intent it is quite legal to simply inform others that you wish to be known by a  different name. It has always been quite common for children to take their stepfather or adoptive  father name.

The early spelling of surnames was quite flexible depending on the preference of the scribe. It is  also quite common to find people in the 18th and 19th century themselves using more than one  spelling of their name.

English surnames fall into 4 categories: location surnames, occupational surnames, relationship  surnames and nicknames. HAWLEY is almost certainly a location surname. There are currently two  places called Hawley in England, and there may have been more in the past. If you look at the  distribution of the HAWLEY surname (see Statistics) then you will find that the name clusters in  certain areas of the country and in other areas is not found at all. This indicates that there were  several locations giving rise to the surname.

All of this makes it difficult to say with any certainty where an individual HAWLEY gets their name  from. All we can do is trace an ancestral line as far back as possible and see if it tends towards  one area or another.

Hawley in Hampshire
 Hallee, Halely 1248. Possible 'woodland clearing near a hall or large house'. Old English heall +  leah. Alternatively the first element may be healh 'nook or corner of land'  [From A Dictionary of English Place Names by A D Mills pub. Oxford University Press, 1991]

Hawley in Kent
 Hagelei 1086 (Domesday Book) Halgeleg 1203. 'Holy wood or clearing'. Old English halig + leah. [From A Dictionary of English Place Names by A D Mills pub. Oxford University Press, 1991]

Haughley in Suffolk
 Hagele c.1040 Hagala 1086 (Domesday Book) 'Wood or clearing with a hedge, or where haws grow' Old  English haga + leah. 
 [From A Dictionary of English Place Names by A D Mills, pub. Oxford University Press, 1991]

Haulay juxta Sheffield in Yorkshire
 Locally the Hawley surname is probably from a lost place name in Brightside Bierlow, in the north- eastern part of Sheffield, which means 'clearing near the mound'. It was recorded as Haulay juxta  Sheffield in the late 14th century. John Hally was at Pitsmoor (Sheffield) in 1376. Francis, the  son of John Hawley was baptised at Sheffield in 1580.
 [From The Origins of One Hundred Sheffield Surnames edited by David Hey, pub. The University of  Sheffield, 1992]

Allaleigh in Devon
 John Hawley of Dartmouth (1340-1408) was reputed to have come to Dartmouth from the small hamlet of  Allaleigh, and the name may be derived from there.
 [From Dartmouth and its Neighbours by Ray Freeman, by Dart Books, 1990]
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Getting Around
There are several ways to browse the family tree. The Tree View graphically shows the relationship of selected person to their kin. The Family View shows the person you have selected in the center, with his/her photo on the left and notes on the right. Above are the father and mother and below are the children. The Ancestor Chart shows the person you have selected in the left, with the photograph above and children below. On the right are the parents, grandparents and great-grandparents. The Descendant Chart shows the person you have selected in the left, with the photograph and parents below. On the right are the children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Do you know who your second cousins are? Try the Kinship Relationships Tool. Your site can generate various Reports for each name in your family tree. You can select a name from the list on the top-right menu bar.

In addition to the charts and reports you have Photo Albums, the Events list and the Relationships tool. Family photographs are organized in the Photo Index. Each Album's photographs are accompanied by a caption. To enlarge a photograph just click on it. Keep up with the family birthdays and anniversaries in the Events list. Birthdays and Anniversaries of living persons are listed by month. Want to know how you are related to anybody ? Check out the Relationships tool.

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