Recorded as Edgerley, Edgerly, Edgeley, Edgely, and possibly others, this is an English surname. It is locational and probably from either of the places called Edgerley, in Cheshire, near Stockport, and in Shropshire near Whitchurch. The place in Cheshire is recorded as "Edisheleg" in the Eyre Rolls of Chester of 1287, and as "Edishelegh" in the Accounts of the Chamberlains of the County of Chester", in 1342, while Edgeley in Shropshire is recorded as "Edeslai" in the Domesday Book of 1086, and as "Edesleye" in the Shropshire Subsidy Rolls of 1327. Both places share the same meaning and derivation, which is "The park in the wood", derived from the Olde English pre 7th Century "edisc", meaning an enclosed pasture, with "leah", a clearing in a wood, but more specifically a farm. Earlty examples of the surname recordings include William Edgeley, a witness at the christening of his daughter, Elizabeth, at St. Mary's, Shrewsbury, in Shropshire, on February 11th 1587, and in Cheshire, the marriage of John Edgeley and Ellen Kent was recorded on August 19th 1639 in Audlem. In the surviving registers of the city of London we have the recording of Edward Edgerley, whose son Robert was christened at St Olaves church, Hart Street, on December 29th 1650. The first recorded spelling of the family name anywhere is probably that of John de Eggelye. This was dated 1296, in the Subsidy Tax Rolls of Sussex, during the reign of King Edward 1st of England, and known as "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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