ORIGIN OF THE WOODLEY NAME

The Woodley surname in the United Kingdom is common in Devon, Berkshire and Essex but rare in other counties.

The very earliest known 'Woodley' is Aelfnod de Wudelege who lived around 1008. There was also Walter de Wodeleye around 1332. But it is not clear whether they were in Devon, Berkshire or Essex. In 1086 Domesday refers to Wudelege in Herefordshire, miles from either Devon, Berkshire, Essex or even London. It is recognisably an Anglo-Saxon name, completely unlike the Beauchamps and Plantagenets who arrived with the Norman Conquest.

Surnames were introduced in England from 1066 and were still being adopted or changed by people up to 1400. In Devon the name seems to be associated with the place Woodleigh, in Berkshire with the town of Woodley, but in Essex the name seems to have been adopted because the original adopter of the name literally lived in a clearing in the wood - and remarkably there is still the remains of a wood between Little Henham and Widdington where he may have lived!

The Devon Woodleys are the most glamorous, being sea-farers, colonial governors and admirals. They found their way to the New World seeking adventure.

The Essex Woodleys were more puritanical and some found a place in the New World as Quakers escaping persecution, (the Pilgrim Fathers were mainly from Essex) and to Australia as convicts.

There were also many Woodley families in London, but these are likely migrants from Devon, Berkshire and Essex. In particular it is worth noting that a large number of Essex Woodleys are descended from a family that moved from London to Essex, in 1742.

Although the Normans themselves had Viking origins their own names were very much influenced by France. In the same way the Anglo-Saxons quickly adopted French first names while retaining their Anglo-Saxon last names.

After the Conquest they avoided Saxon names like Ethelred, Edward, Harold and Edgar and adopted Norman first names such as Roger, Martin, Thomas - but primarily the names of the Norman kings - William, Richard, Henry, John. This is surely motivated by the need to appear loyal to the Norman overlords rather than a lack of imagination or rejection of their Anglo-Saxon heritage.