hartleyfamily.uk - The HARTLEY Surname - Origins of the Name

1] Who are the Hartleys ? When did they originate ?

2] Where did the surname 'HARTLEY' come from ? Why the surname, HARTLEY ?

3] Who were some of the earliest HARTLEYs and where did they come from ?

So if the HERTHA-LEAs ie HARTLEYs brought their surname with them, where did the HARTLEYs come from ?
Can DNA testing help ?

What DNA do HARTLEYs have ?

Results of HARTLEY Y-DNA tests ... [see DNA Page]

very few Hartleys have had their DNA tested, even fewer have posted results on the Internet.

Most HARTLEYs have R1b1-type Y-DNA, the most common found in Britain, mostly brought here by Britons - Gauls, Atlantic peoples and Scythians [Picts and Scots].

One test result shows Y-DNA belonging to Haplo-I1 M253+ Z140+ Group ...

hartleyfamilyorguk believes there might be two HARTLEY groups;

Haplotype R1b1 ... derived from the place-name HARTLEY but not related to one another, the place being named after the Festival of the Goddess, HERTHA

Haplotype Group I1 ... derived from a Germanic-Norse Tribe [Danes, Vikings, Saxons, Normans] who brought the surname HEORT-LEA [or something similar] with them, the name having already been derived fron the Festival of the Goddess, HERTHA, in Germany and Scandinavia, and further back in history, in Greece

but DNA results so far are too few and are inconclusive.

What are the earliest records of the surname Hartley ? Do they show they were Anglo-Saxon or Norse ?

Early records indicate that the surname HARTLEY is pre-Norman [ie Germanic Anglo-Saxon] as it appears after the Norman conquest of 1066, from the place-names already in existence BEFORE the Normans settled.

Adam de HARTLEY b.c.1188 of Hartley Manor in Dorset was married to Cecilia de HARTLEY [see **** below] b.c.1192, m.c. 1217 at Great Minterne, Dorset. They had a third daughter named Claricia b.c.1223.

Their children were:

[1] Robert b.c.1218 [see below] d.1244
[2] Isabella b.c.1220 who m. William ST LEODGER
[3] Claricia b.c.1223 who m.c. 1245 Jean de LA LYNDE; d.after 1283
[4] Christiana b.c.1223 who m. William TILLY
[5] Agnes b.c.1227
[6] Isolda b.c.1230
[7] Johanna b.c.1232

Adam's son, [1] Robert HARTLEY b.c.1218, inherited the Manor in 1244 but died shortly after. Robert's six sisters then inherited, but three sold their shares to Claricia.

[3] Claricia HARTLEY b.c.1223 married Jean de LA LYNDE b.c.1215 Winterborn, Clenstone, Dorestshire, England; m.c.1245 Winterborn, Clenstone, Dorestshire, England; later knighted; famous for negotiating the execution of the Treaty of Paris 1259 between King Richard III of England and King Louis IX of France, a Treaty that gave former Norseland, Normany, back to the French.

Their children were:

Sir Walter de la LYNDE b:1248 in Winterborn, Clenstone, Dorsetshire m.Joan [Isabel] de NEVILL
Geoffrey De La LYNDE b:abt.1250 in Winterborn, Clenstone, Dorsetshire [his son was named William de HARTLEY, possibly after his mother's surname]
Alexander De La LYNDE b: ABT 1252 in Winterborn, Clenstone, Dorsetshire

Claricia d.after 1283

other family members included William De HARTLEY about 1275 of Hartley, Dorset

Nicholas de HERTLEGH of Somerset about 1327 [taken from Subsidy Rolls]

the Hartley family in Dorset appears to be closely connected to the Hartley family at Hartley Castle, Cumbria

Original occupants of Hartley Castle, Cumbria were ...

Michael de HARCLA [b.c.1235-d.c.1311] derived his descent from Hervicius de HARCLA [b.c.1110] , who was seized of the Manor of Dalston in the reign of King Henry the First [1100-1135]; who was succeeded by his brother Robert de HARCLA [b.c.1112] ; who was succeeded by another brother Walter de HARCLA [b.c.1115]; who had a son Michael de HARCLA b.c.1145]; who had a son Walter de HARCLA [b.c.1170]; who had a son Michael de HARCLA [b.c.1195]; who had a son William de HARCLA [b.c.1220]; who had a son Michael de HARCLA [b.c.1235-1260].

Michael de HARCLA [b.c.1235-d.c.1311] was the Deputy Sheriff of Westmorland in 1276 & 1277; Sheriff of Cumberland 1285-1298; MP for Westmorland in 1301; Governor of Carlise in 1296; Justice of the Peace in 1300; appointed a commissioner to perambulate the forests of the counties of Nottingham, Cumberland and Yorkshire, in the reign of Edward I; in 1307 he petitioned the King for reasonable allowance for the ravages and burnings of the Scots while he was Sheriff' Michael died in or before 1311, his executors being he sons, Henri and Michael de HARCLA, and Patrick de CURWENNE, his nephew [CURWEN family of Workington].

Michael de HARCLA [b.c.1235-d.c.1311] at Hartley Castle, Kirkby Stephen, Westmoreland, England, who married [c.1255-1285] Joan [nee FITZJOHN] [b.c.1240-1265] at Westmoreland, England daughter of William FITZJOHN of York.
Children of Michael and Joan were:
[1] Baron Andrew de HARCLA Born: between 1255-1290 at: Of Hartley Castle, Kirkby Stephen, Westmoreland, England Died: 1323 at: Carlisle, Cumberland [see * below]
[2] Isabel de HARCLA Born: between 1255-1290 at: Of Hartley Castle, Kirkby Stephen, Westmoreland, England. She first married Richard le FRANCIS/FRAUNCEYS de VERNON [b.26 May 1263] in Haddon Hall, Derbyshire, England, son of Gilbert le FRANCIS/FRAUNCEYS of Foremark, Derbyshire. Her second marriage was to Hawise de VERNON of Nether Haddon, Derbyshire [formerly married to Sir Richard de VERNON, whose mother was Margaret VIPONT, descended from Robert de VIPONT b.abt.1050, a Norman Knight of Normandy [see ** below].
[3] John de HARCLA Born: between 1255-1290 at: Of Hartley Castle, Kirkby Stephen, Westmoreland, England Died: 1322/23 at: Whitehall, Cumberland. John was a soldier like his brother Andrew and closely associated with him. He was deputy sheriff to him at one time, a knight bachelor in 1300 and died in 1322/23 leaving a widow Ermerade, and a son and heir Andrew aged 3 years, and a daughter named Isabel, who married Richard de RADCLIFFE c.1344, son of William RADCLIFFE and Margaret de HINDLEY [see *** below].
[4] William de HARCLA [b.c.1255][see below ****] who in 1278 is mentioned as son and heir to Michael, served under Robert de CLIFFORD in Edward the First's army at Falkirk in 1298. In 1286 he had been tried but acquitted of complicity in the murder of Nicholas de HASTINGS, the only one executed being the man who shot the fatal arrow [Robert de APPLEBY].

[5] Sir James de HARCLA [b.c.1260-d.c.1324] and Henri his brother Henri, both of whom died before August 6, 1324. James de HARCLA [who later became a knight] with Sir John de HARCLA, Richard de HODDELSTONE, Patrick de CULWENNE, and 50 men-at-arms, were keeping the Castle of Carlisle in Nov. 1316 [during Sir Andrew's captivity] while Sir Robert de LEYBOURNE [Andrew's brother-in-law] was keeping the town.

[6] Michael de HARCLA [b.c.1260]
[7] Henry de HARCLA [aka HARCLAY] [c. 1270 – 1317] Chancellor of the University of Oxford [1313-1316], a former Priest [Rector of Dacre 1296] educated at the University of Paris [c.1300] where he was influeneced by Scotus. He was later a Secular Master [c.1310] and Scholastic Philosopher, a radical 'Thinker' who questioned Aristotle regarding Infinity and Eternity. His twenty-nine Quaestiones Ordinariae cover a range of topics in metaphysics, theology, physical science, philosophical anthropology and ethics, which were among the most important of those debated in the early 14thC. The articles provide a window to this era, as Harclay discusses many of the main questions of his day: whether and why we choose what is evil, how God can know the future and we can still be free, what a virtue is, whether the human soul survives death, whether all things are made up of atoms. He was the son of Sir Michael HARCLAY and Joan FITZJOHN, and the younger brother of Andrew HARCLAY
[8] Sarah de HARCLA [aka de HERCLE] Born c.1280 of Hartley Castle, Kirkby Stephen, Westmoreland, England. First marriage at Great Musgrave, Westmoreland to Thomas de MUSGRAVE [b.c.1280;m.c.1300;d.1314]; their son was Sir Thomas de MUSGRAVE, Sheriff of Yorkshire, MP for Hartley in Westmoreland 1315, Lord MUSGRAVE [b.1302; d 1376/c1385] whose first marriage was to Margaret de ROS [c.1335] daughter of William de ROS of Youlton and South Holme, Yorkshire; his second marriage 9th June 1345 was to Isabel de BERKELEY [b.c.1307; d.1362] daughter of Maurice de BERKELEY, 2nd Lord
Sarah's second marriage was to Robert de LEYBURN [aka LEYBOURNE] Cunswick, Westmoreland [m.1316; d.1327/38], Admiral of the Fleet on the Western Sea of Scotland, MP for Westmorland in 1315, and appointed the Governor of Egremont Castle in 1322, but was stripped of the position a year later. Sarah and Robert had a daughter Eleanor whom married Sir William de LAVAL, Knight of the Seaton Delavals. Sarah d.aft.1327

* [1] Baron Andrew de HARCLA was a commander of the English forces at the battle of Bannockburn in 1314, and he defeated Thomas, Earl of Lancaster at the Battle of Boroughbridge [Battle of Old Byland] [River Ure, NW of York] in 1322 for which he was made Lord HARCLA, and later Earl of Carlisle. "The 4th Earl of Hereford led the fight on Boroughbridge, but he and his men were caught in the arrow fire. Then one of de HARCLAY's pikemen, concealed beneath the bridge, thrust upwards between the planks and skewered the Earl of Hereford through the anus, twisting the head of the iron pike into his intestines. His dying screams turned the advance into a panic."' Sir Andrew used the infantry tactics which were later to prove so effective against the French at Crécy, and the rebels were defeated. Andrew de HARCLA was at the height of his fame when he outmanœuvred and broke the power of the rebel Earl Thomas of Lancaster at Boroughbridge, and took prisoner Roger de CLIFFORD III. Roger joined the rebels perhaps out of jealousy of Andrew, or because he was not recognised as Sheriff of Westmorland, for since his father's death at Bannockburn, deputy sheriffs—Hugh de LOWTHER, Walter de STRICKLAND, Patric de CURWEN, Henry de THRELKELD, Henry de WARCOP—had been chosen, or perhaps because castles which were his by inheritance were garrisoned by others. But on account of CLIFFORD's rebellion the castles of Appleby and Brougham, as well as Pendragon, were from this time definitely held by Andrew de HARCLA.
Sadly, it is believed as the result of some political skulduggery, Sir Andrew was accused of colluding with Robert the Bruce for a truce against the King's wishes and was hung drawn and quartered at Carlisle Castle, his head ending up on the Tower of London. His brother John was also executed, leaving his son John a ward of the king and his sister, Sarah who married Thomas de MUSGRAVE from nearby Great Musgrave and stayed on at Hartley Manor Hall [Hartley Castle]. [also see Hartley Household below].

Another account states Sir Andrew de HERCLE or HARCLA was created Earl of Carlisle by King Edward II. in the fifteenth year of his reign. This title he enjoyed but a short time, for in the following year he was arrested in his castle of Carlisle, for treasonable correspondence with the Scots, degraded from his knighthood, by ungirding his sword, and hacking off his spurs, hanged, drawn, and quartered, his head being placed on London-Bridge, and his four quarters thus disposed, one on the keep of Carlisle Castle, one on the keep of the castle at Newcastle, a third on York-Bridge, and the fourth at Shrewsbury.

Bones from the quarter hung at Carlisle Castle were later returned to Andrew's sister, Sarah, in 1328, and buried at Kirkby Stephen's Church in a Musgrave family tomb. At the church is a monumental figure of a man in armour, supposed to have been erected to the memory of Sir Andrew de HARCLA.

It appears Sir Andrew's brother, [6] Michael de HARCLA [b.c.1260], was also condemned and had his estate at Harmby confiscated in 1323 and given to Henry le Scrope, later passing to the NEVILL family. Later Roger, his son, being then 15 years old, the custody of Pendragon Castle was committed by Edward 11 to Guy de BEAUCHAMP, Earl of Warwick. Roger coming of age, was drawn into that conspiracy which Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, formed against the King, and, being taken a prisoner was beheaded at York. The Inquisition p. mortem taken at his death in 1327 found that he died possessed of this Castle of Pendragon, together with the Forest of Mallerstang. .

** [see Isabel de HARCLA, above] Richard le FRANCIS/FRAUNCEYS b.26 May 1263 took the surname VERNON and lived at Haddon Hall, Derbyshire. He married Isabel, daughter of Michael de Harcla. They had sons named Richard and William.

*** John de Harcla's daughter Isabel married Richard de RADCLIFFE c.1344, son of William RADCLIFFE and Margaret de HINDLEY

**** Crosby Ravensworth Hall. The site of Thomas de HASTINGS' house in 1286. "On Whit Sunday of that year Richard le FRANCIS/FRAUNCEYS of Mauld's Meaburn sent [4] William de HARCLA [b.c.1255], John le FRANCIS/FRAUNCEYS, Robert de APPLEBY and others to Crosby Ravensworth. There they found Nicholas de HASTINGS, leaning on his bow, outside the gate of his brother's house, and immediately they attacked him. John le FRANCIS/ FRAUNCEYS struck him with a staff and pushed him in the breast and by pressing upon him with his horse thrust him into a ditch. Seeing this William de HARCLA leapt at him with his sword drawn intending to run it into him but the sword fell from his hand and so he failed. Whereupon John le FRANCIS/FRAUNCEYS bade Robert de APPLEBY shoot him with an arrow and Robert did as he was asked and shot him in the breast and Nicholas very quickly died." After which the murderers returned in a body towards the manor house of Mauld's Meaburn. "At once the villagers of Crosby followed them with hue and cry and with intent to arrest and seize the felon, Robert, who shot the arrow. But John le FRANCIS/FRAUNCEYS and William de HARCLA and the others drove them back and by use of weapons rescued Robert de Appleby and took him away into the manor house of Richard le FRANCIS/FRAUNCEYS, who sent them forth, at Mauld's Meaburn, shut the gates after them and allowed no one to go in. Thereon came Alice, wife of Nicholas de HASTINGS, the slain man, she climbed on to a wall and raised hue and cry and sought to obtain entrance for the people with her that they might arrest them, but those inside the manor house prevented anyone from gaining ingress."

"Our particular HARTLEY branch stemmed from the area in Westmoreland, [now Cumbria] England, near to Kirkby Stephen. The village of HARTLEY had a keep or small Castle in the 13th century. Designed to defend the area from the Scottish border raiders, it is now lost within farm buildings on the moor side. The raiders drove the HARTLEYs south, through the "Trough of Bowland" and they then settled in the Pendle area of Lancashire. There are hundreds of HARTLEYs in the area, mainly Johns who begat Johns, making the detailed searching a genealogists nightmare. Links developed between Colne, Trawden, Winewall, and Wycoller in Lancashire and Laneshaw Bridge, Stanbury, Haworth, and Oxenhope in Yorkshire. My own traced ancestors stem from Haworth and Oxenhope, but there are intriguing links to Wycoller". [ thanks to David Hartley E-mail: [David, please submit your new email address]

**** another Cecilia HARTLEY [see above] was born in or around Lancashire b.c.1197. She married Thurston BANASTRE at Walton Le Dale, Makerfield, Lancashire abt 1214 but he died just a few years later. She may have been the same Cecilia HARTLEY in Dorset, ie, she may have gone on to marry Adam HARTLEY in Dorset, they may have been cousins;

Another of the earliest records is that of one Robert de HERTLAY who was living in Yorkshire in 1191 according to Poll Tax returns. He may be related to the HARTLEYs at Hartley Manor Hall [Hartley Castle].

hartleyfamilyorguk concludes the following:

HARTLEY was not derived from the name of the place where Stags rutted in a clearing, or whatever ... it was the other way round, the place was named after the Germanic 'HEORT' ... derived from the Earth Goddess 'HERTHA'. Further, the use of the word 'LEA' meaning 'clearing' referred to a clearing for the worship of the Goddess HERTHA, not where Stags rutted.

So the Germanic Anglo-Saxon name HEORT-LEA [hence HART-LEY] means "place where the Goddess HERTHA is worshipped".

derived from a Sacred place, a Clearing in a Grove, a 'LEA', where the sacred Earth Mother Goddess 'HEOROTHA' was worshipped in a Festival. There might even have been a Temple, a Shrine or Sacred Well named after her, yet to be discovered. Beowulf's Hall of HEOROT would have been named after her. We know that many old Germanic-Saxon place names occur elsewhere in Britain. HEOROT-LEY may have been derived from the area around the Hall of HEOROT ... the area is today named Hart[y] Marshes and Leysdown Marshes ... much more archaeology needs to be done in this area to discover the remains.

'The Hall of HEOROT' was named after or was a place of worship to the Germanic-Saxon Goddess, HEOROTHA, the mother of the Norse God, THOR [HEORTE meaning FESTIVAL

there is overwhelming evidence that the Germanic Earth Goddess HERTHA is the root of the family of Germanic surnames beginning with 'HART'. She is the key to understanding the Tribes that united to worship her and name places and peoples after her. They even named the Stag, the Hart, after her. The names 'HERTHA', 'HEOROT', 'ARTEMIS' and 'HART' are all one of the same. They are the 'Deer-Stag People' of Europe and Asia, her name living on in India, in Greece, in Italy, in Germania, in Scandinavia and in the British Isles and Ireland.

the surname DE HARCLA became the surname HARCLAY, and that eventually became HARTLEY. The surnames are one of the same, all connected with a Festival of the Goddess HERTHA, going back tens of thousands of years. DE-HARCLA families of the North of England are descended from the DE-HARCLA families found in the South of England. And that the De-HARCLAs - HARTLEYs in the North probably united with members of the Carvetii peoples as they had one thing in common: their Goddess HERTHA, from whom the surname HEORT-LEA - HARTLEY is derived.

The HARTLEY Family of Chorlton-cum-Hardy in Manchester derived their name from 'Hearda's Island' at Chorlton, 'HERTHA'S ISLAND', an island where the Earth Goddess Hertha was celebrated and worshipped.
[see HARTLEY Family of Chorlton in Lancashire ]

there are likely links between the Carvetii, 'The Deer/Stag People' of Cumbria, and the Jutes [Anglo-Saxons] who settled in the South of England, where the name HARTLEY is also found. They probably both have common links with the Earth Goddess HERTHA, Goddess of Hunting. Hence HARTLEYs in the south of England, in the North of England and in the south of Ireland all now have a surname derived from the Germanic Goddess HERTHA, hence the Germanic family of surnames starting with 'HART' found throughout the British Isles and Ireland, Germany and Scandinavia, and beyond.

The Germanic HERTHA-LEA is where today's HART-LEYs get their surname

hartleyfamilyorguk believes there is a link between the worship of the Germanic Earth Goddess HERTHA and the Anglo-Saxon HEORT, the naming of deer/stag, all surnames beginning with HART- and place names such as HARTLEY village and the Hartz Mountains etc. etc.

to be continued ...

How many HARTLEYs were there in British Censuses ?

The History of the HARTLEY Surname - Hartley in history, including the First Recorded Hartleys, Hartley Castle and more.

1841 Census 10,496 : 1851 Census 11,750 : 1861 Census 20,345 : 1871 Census 14,843 : 1891 Census 17,211

The most common HARTLEY First Names were:

Census	1841	1851	1861	1871	1891
John	953	975	1507	932	764
William	747	796	1221	786	708
Mary	876	769	1131	731	612
James	604	602	963	612	613
Elizabeth	523	598	1003	658	543
Thomas	448	450	829	539	435
Sarah	506	486	744	444	343
Ann	482	463	665	378	221
Joseph	320	356	517	379	320
Jane	296	331	521	337	269
George	220	251	405	308	321
Hannah	249	295	459	283	188
Henry	222	249	409	266	234
Ellen	193	241	387	260	243
Margaret	208	210	429	226	235
Robert	214	210	427	228	209
Alice	149	166	342	208	254
Richard	189	190	332	203	174
Martha	201	211	294	205	174
Emma	52	116	208	178	186

Where else can the surname Hartley be found ?

Place Names where the HARTLEY Surname can be found today. Britain, USA, Australia, Africa

In the USA, a few of the Hartleys in the USA go back a long way ... some of the earliest records show Hartleys in Accomack, Virginia; Patterson's Creek, Hampshire, Virginia; Westmoreland Co, , , Virginia; Hampshire, Kentucky; Sassafras River, Stephen's Parish, Cecil, Maryland; Colleton, South Carolina; and Solebury, Lahaska, Bucks, Pennsylvania as early as 1680-1700 most Hartleys journeyed and settled there much later on with waves of emigrants from England and Ireland.

In 1840 - 36% of Hartleys lived in OH/PA = 244 families in total USA

by 1880 - 40% of Hartleys lived in IL/IN/OH/PA/NY = 5763 families in total USA

by 1920 - 41% of Hartleys lived in CA/MO/IL/IN/OH/PA/NY - 4185 families in total USA

40% were Farmers [1880] against 35% for the main population.

source - ancestry.com

see The First American Hartleys [Part One]

see The First American Hartleys [Part Two]

see The First American Hartleys [Part Three]

see The First African Hartleys - 1820 Settlers

see The First Australian Hartleys

back to:

1] Who are the Hartleys ? When did they originate ?

2] Where did the surname 'HARTLEY' come from ? Why the surname, HARTLEY ?

3] Who were some of the earliest HARTLEYs and where did they come from ?

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