Edgeley

This interesting name is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and a locational surname deriving from either of the places called Edgeley, in Cheshire, near Stockport, and in Shropshire near Whitchurch. The place in Cheshire is recorded as "Edis(he)leg" in the County Court, City Court and Eyre Rolls of Chester of 1287, and as "Edishelegh" in the 1304 "Accounts of the Chamberlains of the County of Chester", while Edgeley in Shropshire is recorded as "Edeslai" in the Domesday Book of 1086, and as "Edesleye" in the Shropshire Subsidy Rolls of 1327. Both places share the same meaning and derivation, which is "the park in the wood", derived from the Olde English pre 7th Century "edisc", enclosed pasture, park, with "leah", wood, clearing. William Edgeley was a witness at the christening of his daughter, Elizabeth, at St. Mary's, Shrewsbury, in Shropshire, on February 11th 1587, while in Cheshire, the marriage of John Edgeley and Ellen Kent was recorded on August 19th 1639 in Audlem. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John de Eggelye, which was dated 1296, in the "Subsidy Rolls of Sussex", during the reign of King Edward 1, known as "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.