Hagley

This uncommon name is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a locational surname deriving from any one of the places called Hagley in Shropshire, Somerset, Staffordshire and Worcestershire. The place in Shropshire is recorded in 1272 as "Haggele"; that in Somerset near Wiveliscombe as "Haggelegh" in the Assize Court Rolls of 1243; Hagley in Staffordshire as "Hageleia" in the 1130 Pipe Rolls of the county; and the Worcestershire place as "Hageleia" in the Domesday Book of 1086. These places all hare the same meaning and derivation, which is "wood or glade where haws were found", from the Olde English pre 7th Century "haga, hacga", haw, fruit of the hawthorn, with "leah", thin wood, glade, clearing in a wood. Locational surnames, such as this, were used particularly as a means of identification to those who left their birthplace and settled in another area. Recordings of the name from London Church Registers include: the marriage of Anne Hagley and John Hill at St. Gregory by St. Paul, on June 23rd 1625, and the christening of Edward, son of William Hagley, on August 26th 1646, at St. Olave's, Southwark. A Coat of Arms granted to a family of the name in 1395 is blazoned as follows: Per pale or (gold) and azure (blue) three bars counterchanged, in chief two palets, and as many cantons also counterchanged, an inescutcheon argent (silver). The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Margreta Hagley, which was dated January 10th 1543, christened at Hopton Castle, Shropshire, during the reign of King Henry V111, known as "Bluff King Hal", 1509 - 1547. 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.