Ashley

Ashley One-Name Study

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Study details

Study: Ashley

Variants: Ashlea, Ashleigh, Astley

Category: 1 - A study where research using core genealogical datasets and transcriptions is in its early stages.

Website: www.ashley-surname.org.uk/

Contact: Mr Barry Ashley

About the study

My interest started with my own direct line but grew as I became curious about connections with others of the same surname. My main interest is the Ashley surname but I have also looked at my mothers ancestry and that of my paternal grandmother. I am investigating the Ashley surname initially in Shropshire, Staffordshire and Cheshire but find this leads me further afield

Variant names

My study includes the variants Ashlea, Ashleigh and Astley but I am open to other variants as I come across them and obviously the deviants due to poor transcription. I have also found that as many in the past were illiterate then their reliance on the educated people left much interpretation to the spellings. In one set of parish records and enthusiastic priest versed in Latin insisted on adding an 'e' to th end of nearly every word thus making another variant

Name origin

Guppy's book of 1890 'HOMES of FAMILY NAMES' lists Ashley under Shropshire and simply states 'ASHLEYS possess the name of a Staffordhire parish'
Other research suggests that the name is of Anglo Saxon origin and is a locational place name in Cheshire, Kent, Wiltshire, Staffordshire and Northamptonshire. I have visited Ashley villages in several counties now and also have a collection of Ashley related items
It implies a rural nature as in 'ash' and 'leah' meaning a wood or clearing. Hence the 'ash wood' or 'area cleared of ash trees'
A Samuel Ashley departed London in the early 1600's bound for Virginia and was one of the first recorded namebearers to enter America

Historical occurrences of the name

Prominent or Famous Ashley's Surname

Anthony Evelyn Melbourne Ashley (1836 - 1907), English writer and politician
Sir Bernard Ashley (1926â2009), Welsh businessman/engineer and former widower of Laura Ashley
Elizabeth Ashley (born 1939), American actress
Helmut Ashley (b. 1919), Austrian film director
Henry Ashley (1778 -1829), US congressman from New York
Ian Ashley (born 1947), former British Formula 1 race car driver
Jack Ashley, Baron Ashley of Stoke (1922-2012), British Life Peer and former Labour MP
Jackie Ashley (born 1954), British journalist
John Ashley (actor) (1934 - 1997), American actor
John Ashley (ice hockey) (1930 - 2008), Canadian ice hockey referee
Karan Ashley (born 1975), American actress
Laura Ashley (1925â1985), British designer
Liam Ashley (died 2006), New Zealand teenager murdered in a prison van
Maurice Ashley (historian) (1907-1994), editor
Maurice Ashley (born 1966), American chess grandmaster
Merrill Ashley (living), former New York City Ballet principal dancer
Robert Ashley (born 1930), American composer
Syd Ashley (1880-1959), South African rugby union player
Thomas W. L. Ashley (born 1923), American politician
Sir William Ashley (1860 -1927), Economic historian
William Henry Ashley (1785-1839), American fur trader, entrepreneur and politician
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Ashley_(businessman)
Chloe Ashley , a midlands based Fine Art Practitioner
Steve Ashley singer/songwriter

Distribution of the name

My own research shows my direct line migrating from Shropshire into Staffordshire to find work but I have also established that others with the Ashley surnames migrated to other neighbouring counties such as Cheshire and Warwickshire for similar reasons. With the advent of the railways the surname appears on the south coast and some of my ancestors moved to Brighton as earthenware dealers. There were Ashley's also widespread in london and as with Samuel Ashley above, many migrated to America and this may be the reason the surname is so popular there
A map generated from the 1881 census shows the largest concentration to be in Lancashire and Middlesex. Cheshire Staffordshire, Yorkshire, Lincs, and Surrey follow closely behind. Notts, Derbys, Norfolk, Warwickshire, Gloucs, Wilts, Somerset and Kent then have less than 200 and then a spread of low numbers including some parts of Wales and Scotland. To put this in perspective with other surnames the biggest concentration numbers between 501 to 800 in actual numbers.

Data

I have my tree on Ancestry along with associated trees and use this as one source of research along with BMD certficates and research at several archives. I am willing to adapt my methods to use best practice and welcome new ideas. I have completed the Pharo's one name study course and my data gathering is ongoing.

On the 5th November 2016 I met with a fascinating and knowledgeable guild member Janet Ashley (7103) who impressed me with her depth of research and knowledge of the Ashley Surname. I look forward to future meetings and hope that we can help each other but Janet certainly has a well researched databases relating to our Surname. A great pleasure to meet and talk with a like minded person. Thank You

DNA

A recent departure for me is a Y DNA 37 test for which I have the results registered with Family Tree DNA and recorded as part of a project. I have subsequently followed this up with further tests and now have results for mtDNA and autsomal DNA. Though not currently a full blown project I have entered into correspondence with several enquirers.

Links

http://www.facebook.com/groups/289505467783854/
http://www.familytreedna.com/public/ashley/
http://www.ashley-surname.org.uk/

Contact Details

Mr Barry Ashley

General Search Results

Occurrences of the surname Ashley in the Guild Indexes

(Click on the number to view the search results in each index. Indexes marked by * are only accessible by logged in Guild members.)

Global Marriages (public) 640
Global Marriages (members)* 664
Inscriptions Index 2
Modern Newspaper Index 9
Probate Index* 33
Datastores (public) 2
Datastores (members)* 6
Stories for the name Ashley 4

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