As a child, I heard stories of my ancestors that share my surname, coming to the United States from Wales.  I would, on occasion pass their headstones in the cemetery in up-state New York, as I walked from my grandmother's house to that of my great uncle.  There were also stories about other relatives and I always wondered what it would be like to know more about them, beyond these stories, which I always assumed were true.

I've been researching my family since the late 1980's so I could learn more about who they were beyond the stories I knew.  I did verify that my 2nd great grandfather was born in Holywell, Wales, but his parents were married in Manchester and his father was born in Audlem, Cheshire.  I had always assumed that people lived and died within a few miles of where they were born in the 1800's.   

My DNA shows that I have very little Welsh or English on my paternal side, it's mostly Irish.

Status:  I'm just starting out on this one name study, but the short-term goal is to look at the all census records in the UK and US to get a count of the Edgley surname over time and look at migration from the UK to the US.  Next, I'll collect BMD records from church and civil records post 1700.  I'll set up a schedule for myself for these beginning projects and which ones to tackle further down the road.  I am also interested in using DNA to assist in my research.

Edgley, Edgeley and Edgely.  I'm going to research if Edgerly is a separate surname or a variant.

The consensus is that the origin of Edgley is from England.  After that, there is some debate as to the county of origin with Shropshire and Cheshire being mentioned the most.