Searching for family of John Hartley from Lancashire

[RSGrosse]

I have been searching for information about my Hartley relatives. My 12th great grandmother was Elizabeth Hartley (1630-1709) from Warwick, Warwickshire, England. She married Nicholas Heath (1624-1696) and they had seven children, including my 11th great grandfather, James Heath (1658-1731).

Elizabeth's parents, John Hartley, Sr. and Bridget Wakefield (d. 1645) had a total of five children, Elizabeth being the oldest. Only one other child, John, Jr. (b. 1632) lived to adulthood. I would like to find more information about Bridget and John, Sr.

I wrote to the Hartley Family Project and received this response, "Based on the Hartley Project that I run, I have been able to so far discover at least a dozen totally independent, unrelated, male Hartley lines. Most Hartleys originate Lancashire and Yorkshire, so it may be your Warwickshire Hartleys come from there. Even within those counties, Hartley lines are unrelated.

So it appears most Hartleys 'adopted' the surname, ie, the Hartleys are not one big family. That being, some Hartleys are known to have adopted their name pretty late on, ie, 17thC to 19thC, and it is almost impossible to find which surname they used before that."

Does this make sense? Are Lancashire and/or Yorkshire closer enough to Warwickshire that it would be likely place for them to end up there?  I would like to find information about John, Sr.'s parents and the family of Bridget Wakefield. 

[rosie99]

Are Lancashire and/or Yorkshire closer enough to Warwickshire that it would be likely place for them to end up there? 

I always look at online maps when I am in doubt as to proximity of locations 

[RSGrosse]

Thanks. I'm aware of that. I did look at a map and saw these counties aren't near each other.
I realize that people moved 'across the pond', but I wasn't sure about such a move within England unless it was done for economic reasons.

[Maiden Stone]

According to www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Hartley
Hartley is a locational name of Anglo-Saxon origin.
Hampshire, Devonshire: Old English "heort", hart, stag,  + "leah", wood or clearing.
Northumberland: "hlaw",  hill.
Cumberland:  "cla",  tongue between 2 steams.
The surname is widely distributed.
An early recording was in Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire 1191.

According to www.hartleyfamily.org.uk
Hartley is from Hertha, Germanic goddess of hunting.
Earliest recording of name cited was Adam de Hartley of Dorset, born c.1188.
A Harcley family of Cumberland is mentioned. A relationship to the family of Adam de Hartley in Dorset is suggested.
Also a seperate Hartley family of Chorlton-cum-Hardy, allegedly called after a place where Hertha, the goddess was worshipped.
Some historical background is given. I spotted a mistake in this section. It has King Richard instead of King Henry making Treaty of Paris 1259.

[RSGrosse]

The website you mentioned is where the information I quote in my original post came from.  William Hartley contacted me directly.