This long-established name is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a locational surname deriving from either of the places called Loxley, in Staffordshire near Uttoxeter, and in Warwickshire near Stratford-upon-Avon. Loxley in Staffordshire is recorded as "Locheslei" in the Domesday Book of 1086, and as "Lockesley" in the Fees Court Rolls of the county for 1236, while the place in Warwickshire is "Locsetena" in the Saxon Diplomatic Codex of 985, and "Locheslei" in Domesday. Both placenames share the same meaning and derivation, which is "Locc's glade", from the Olde English pre 7th Century byname "Locc", from "loc", lock of hair, curl, used for someone with fine, curly hair, and "leah", thin wood, glade, clearing in a wood. Locational surnames, such as this, were used particularly as a means of identification for those who left their birthplace to settle elsewhere. The modern forms of the surname are Loxley, Locksley and Loxly, and recordings from Church Registers include: the marriage of Alyce Locksley and George Ibotson at Bradfield, Yorkshire, on April 28th 1560, and the christening of Edward, son of William Locksley, on July 29th 1612, at St. Giles' Cripplegate, London. The Coat of Arms most associated with the family name depicts a silver lion rampant within an orle of eight silver crosses crosslet on a blue shield. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richard de Lokesley, which was dated 1341, in the "Register of the Freemen of the City of York", during the reign of King Edward 111, known as "The Father of the Navy", 1327 - 1377. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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