Hartley Family Crest, Coat of Arms and Name History

Origin, Meaning & Etymology
The English or Anglo-Saxon surname Hartley is a habitational name denoting a person from any of the various places so called, particularly those in Hampshire, Devon, and Kent, which derive their name from the Old English word heorot, meaning ‘hart’ or ‘stag’, and leah, meaning ‘wood’ or ‘clearing’, those in Northumberland, which derive their name from the Old English word hlaw, meaning ‘hill’ and one in Cumbria containing the Old English word cla, meaning ‘claw’ (a tongue of land between two streams) and heard, meaning ‘hard’. There were also parishes in the dioceses of Rochester and Winchester. The name arose from a place near Haworth, West Yorkshire. In Ireland, this last name is a shortened Anglicized form of the Gaelic equivalent  Ó hArtghaile, meaning ‘descendant of Artghal’, a personal name consisting of the elements art, meaning ‘bear’ or ‘hero’, and gal, meaning ‘valor’.

Some of the earliest known bearers of this last name include Robert de Hertlay who was recorded in the Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire in 1191 AD and Nicholas de Hertlegh who was recorded in the Subsidy Rolls of Somerset in 1327 AD. Ricardus de Hertlay and Willelmus de Hertelay were recorded in the Poll Tax of Yorkshire in 1379 AD.

In Scotland, Hartley (Hartecla, Hartcla, Hartla) was a manor in the parish of Kirkby-Stephen in Westmoreland. Michael de Hardcla or Hartcla was deputy sheriff of Westmoreland in 1276 and 1277, and sheriff of Cumberland in the years to follow.  On the execution of his brother for treason, Andrew de Hardcla fled into Scotland with several friends.

Hartley of Beech Park
This branch of the family originally came from Lancaster, England and settled in Ireland in 1650. Reverend William Hartley, son of Samuel Henry, was born in 1679 and settled at Ballyaghan, county Carlow. He had a son named Reverend Humphrey Hartley (b. 1711) who married Honor and had three sons and one daughter with her. Their eldest son and heir was James Hartley, Esq. of Tonegar, who married Jane Bourne of Donnybrook, and had issue with her.

Hartley of Gillfoot
John Hartley, Esq. of Whitehaven, married Elizabeth Milham, and had issue with her, including a son named Thomas. Thomas Hartley, Esq. married his cousin Anne, daughter and co-heiress of Thomas Hartley Esq. of Linethwaite and Gilfoot, with whom he had the following issue: Thomas (his heir), Wilfrid, Grayson, Elizabeth, Catherine, and Anne Elizabeth. The heir, Thomas was born in 1847 and was a Justice of the Peace and Deputy Lieutenant.

Hartley of Wheaton-Aston
This family was originally from York, England. John Hartley of Hunslet, son of Joseph, migrated into count Stafford. In 1802, he married Margaret, daughter of William Stevenson, Esq. of Douglas, Isle of Man, and had two sons with her: James (Member of Parliament for Sunderland) and John (Justice of the Peace, Deputy Lieutenant).

Hartleys in America
Samuel Edward (or just Edward) Hartley, son of Rodger John Hartley, was born in Marsden, Lancashire, England in 1666. He married Sarah Midgley in Heptonstall, Yorkshire, in 1693 and had issue with her as follows: Roger, Thomas, John, Edward, & Jennet. Edward and his brother Henry settled in Bucks County, Pennsylvania prior to 1702. A one Anthony Hartley, a wine merchant, purchased land in Philadelphia in 1714.

Several members of this family fought in the American Revolution, including Colonel Thomas Hartley of Pennsylvania, Lieutenant John Hartley of Delaware, Private Henry Hartley of Virginia, and Corporal Paul Hartley of Virginia. Several veterans of the war received land grants from the government, including Henry Hartley of Georgia (287 acres), Private John Hartley of North Carolina (640 acres to heirs), and Private Joseph Hartley of North Carolina (383 acres).

The name ranks in the top 700 most commonly occurring surnames in eight US states: West Virginia, Alabama, Oregon, Georgia, Ohio, Idaho, Maine, and Alaska.

Blazons & Genealogy Notes

1) (Manchester, co. Lancaster. Visit. Lancaster, 1664). (Bucklebury House, co. Berks; representative of the Winchcombes, of that place) Ar. on a cross gu. pierced of the field four cinquefoils or, in the 2nd and 3rd quarters a martlet sa. Crest—A martlet sa. holding in the beak a cross crosslet fitchee or. Motto—Vive ut vivas.
2) (Wheaton Aston, co. Stafford). Erm. on a cross engr. gu. four quatrefoils or, in the 1st and 4th quarters a martlet sa. Crest—Upon a mount vert a martlet sa. in the beak a cross pattee fitchee or. Motto—Sub hoc signo vinces.
3) (granted to John Hartley, Esq., of Catteral Hall, Giggleswick, co. York). Gu. a cross erm. on a chief ar. three hearts of the field. Crest—A heart, as in the arms, ensigned with a crown vallery or, betw. two wings barry of six az. and or.
4) (Settle, Giggleswick, co. York). Same Arms, a canton erm. for diff. Crest—A heart, as in the arms, ensigned with a crown vallery or, betw. two wings barry of six az. and or, the heart charged with an erm. spot gold, for diff.
5) (Middleton Lodge, near Richmond, co. York). Or, a chev. betw. three annulets gu. over all a fesse ar. Crest—A stag couchant reguard. ar.
6) (Beech Park, Clonsilla, co Dublin; confirmed to Richard Wilson Hartley, Esq., and the other descendants of his grandfather). Ar. on a cross gu. pierced of the field four cinquefoils or, in the 1st and 4th quarters a martlet sa. and in the 2nd quarter a rose of the second barbed and seeded ppr. Crest—Out of a mural crown or, a stag’s head ppr. holding in the mouth a rose gu. barbed and seeded ppr. Motto—Spectemur agendo.