Aldersley

This name is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is an English locational surname from the place called 'Alderley' in Cheshire. The placename is first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as 'Aldredelie', and means 'Aldred's wood or glade'. The derivation is from the Olde English pre 7th Century personal name also recorded in Domesday as 'Aldret' and 'Eldred', and composed of the elements 'eald', old and 'raed', counsel, with 'leah', meaning a wood or a clearing in a wood. The modern surname has two forms, Aldersley and Alderley. Ann Aldersley, married to William Morris in Manchester in 1606, is recorded two lines further on as Ann Alderley so the two spellings appear to be interchangeable. Samuel Aldersley, son of Arerie, was christened at St. Mary's, Disley in Cheshire in 1663. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Anne Aldersley, married Anthony Moorhowse, which was dated 2nd August 1562, St. Giles, Cripplegate, London, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, Good Queen Bess, 1558 - 1603. 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.