The Tetley one-name study was started by Richard F. Tetley in about 1997. (tetley@one-name.org)

The objective is to record all Tetleys worldwide and link their ancestry, as much as is possible.

The variations of the name are many! However, it's fair to say that the principal variations are Tetley, Titley, and Tetlow. The rest are probably variations on those.

So far, the study identifies 32,174 individuals who either have the name Tetley, Tetlow, Titley (or a variant) or are married into, or descended from the Tetleys (or variant). These individuals have been linked in 9805 families.

The website http://tetley@one-name.net has more information and webpages displaying information from our database of individuals.

The main variants are Tetley, Titley and Tetlow, although there are others, that may be variants of those or just mis-spellings of them that have occurred through time.

For example, Tettley, Tatley, Tetlaw, Tetlowe, Tytley and Tetlah.

The Tetleys are mostly of Yorkshire origin, and particularly from the area to the south of Bradford. The earliest concentration of them was in the Birkenshaw and Birstall area in the 1600s.
The Tetlows are from the Manchester area. Indeed, there is an old village of Tetlowe near Trafford. The Tetlows in that area were recorded in the court rolls of the 1200s.
The Titleys were concentrated in the area around Stoke on Trent in the early 19th century.

It has been speculated the Tetlows of Trafford, near Manchester, are the root of all Tetley, Titley and Tetlow variations. Now to prove it.....

Tetleys worldwide.

There are Tetleys around the world, but the largest populations outside the UK are in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and USA. Migration to those countries happened in the mid to late 19th century.

Famous Tetleys.

Many will know of the Tetley Brewery and Tetley Tea which were founded in the 19th century. Neither company is run by Tetleys these days.
Several members of the Brewing family served in the forces and on Leeds Council.
Glen Tetley was a ballet dancer and choreographer in the USA.
Sir Richard Tetley Glazebrook was a prominent physicist.
John Pickles Tetley was a Baptist Minister.
Herbert Hustler Tetley was a Lord Mayor of Bradford.

Joseph Swabey Tetley was a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy and sailed with the infamous Captain Bligh. Joseph Swabey Tetley was later promoted to Captain and commanded the "Derwent".