Recorded as Quartly, Quarterley, Quartley, and possibly others, this is a very unusual surname. It appears to be English and is quite well recorded in the surviving church registers of the city of London, but only from about 1780. This is much too late for an English surname, unless the spelling has been changed. The best likely link that we can find is locational from the village of Quarley in the county of Hampshire. English and Scottish surnames with the suffix "ley" or "ly" derive from the pre 7th century word "leah" meaning an area in a forest cleared and fenced for agriculture - or a farm, As to how the surname obtained its intrusive "t"is probably down toa combination of poor spelling and thick local dialects, and certainly in 18th century London the added "t" would assist pronunciation. This is something of a guess, but it is interesting to note that as Quarly the name is recorded in Elizabethan London, with that of Robert Quarly. He was married at the famous church of St Dunstans in the East, Stepney, on June 8th 1589, although thereafter over the following century the spelling seems to disappear. Quarly or Quarley means the place of the corn mill from the pre 7th century Olde English "cweorn-leah," and this would seem a logical explanation for Quartly. The first recording in that spelling may be Henry Quartley who married Constantia Reade at Christ Church, Spitalfields in the city of London, on July 15th 1782.

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