Hi , my maiden name was Ann Notley so this has started my interest in researching my name. My paternal ancestors came from Suffolk and Norfolk so that is where I have started. There is an emigration trail over to the Americas and Canada and I have traced family over there with one branch being very eminent in Alberta. I have traced family in the UK back to 1700s but have come to a full stop before this. I have several branches going back to this time, with similar first names but am ever hopeful of finding a common link

There are also a lot of Notleys in Dorset , Devon and Somerset with a few even into South Wales and I have found a connection between these two branches

I will , one day, find a male cousin to provide a Y DNA test ----I have done my own and found family this way . Since first writing this, I have persuaded one of the last Male Notleys from my particular branch to do his Y DNA  and from this have made a connection with two American branches. To my delight this YDNA test has also made a match with one of the Canadian branch although I have yet to find our common ancestor

I have now extended my research into Dorset, Devon and Somerset and have found that they connect with the South Wales branch. I have no DNA evidence from this group but am ever hopeful of finding someone who will take one to see if there is any connection

I have also done a lot of research on an Irish branch most of whom seem to have emigrated to Canada and then America in the 1800s. I have no DNA yet from this branch

I am in the process of going through all the Wills that I can find in the Government Probate Office as well as some from the National Archives and so have expanded my research enormously. So far I have worked through 100 years of Wills and will continue on this until I have finished as far as possible.

At present I have returned to Suffolk and Norfolk and am following some 'new' to me lines there. It is always lovely to revisit one's roots and I am eternally grateful to any contacts that I find along my route.

Variants on Notley are numerous

Nottle, Nuttley,  Knottley, Nottley, Nutley, Nittley Nottley, Noley, Notly, Nolley, Netley, Notler , Notteleye, Nuttele,Notleye

'My' branch of the family come from Fressingfield, Suffolk, UK but they spread over Suffolk, Norfolk and Essex. There is a place in Essex called Black Notley and another White Notley but I have not as yet managed to trace them back there. There is also a Notley Abbey in Buckinghamshire    but I have not yet found any one names there .However I feel that it probably started in Essex and has spread  from there. Essex is next on my list to research which I have been doing and find that this spills over into London. I have some good contacts here

I have found a John Notteleye in Shenley in 1382, another John de Nuttele and his wife Isolte in Abingdon in May 1282 and also a Geoffrey de Notleye in Hertfordshire in 1311. I am not yet sure where they 'fit' but hope in time to find out

The main group of Notley members seems to be in East Anglia , concentrated in Suffolk and Norfolk with some movement to Newmarket area

There is a large group in London, some of whom have East Anglian beginnings

There is another large group in Somerset, Devon and Dorset but I am not sure whether they stem from the same root  as my East Anglian folk as yet.

Certainly a branch in Alberta ,Canada come from East Anglia and I presume that as a sea faring part of the country, many crossed the Atlantic for various reasons and settled there. Others landed in Prince Edward Island and fanned out from there to USA

I shall continue to research the name in the United States and Canada and have found at least four different branches around the States. I am continuing to search there as more turn up every day

There is the occasional Notley in Australia but I have yet to research this part of the World . 

I have done my DNA and have persuaded a male cousin to do his. Our male branch is in danger of dying out---- there are only two left . So far I have only found one match which I traced back to a relative who emigrated with her husband to Nova Scotia in the 1850s and founded a branch there ( but they are not called Notley but exciting to have 'found' them none the less ). As I have detailed above , by means of YDNA and some lovely people in USA, two and possibly three lines in USA are connected

The YDNA has connected me to two lines one in Canada and another in the USA. It is wonderful to have proof that ones research is on the correct lines.