Exley Family
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Origins
The Exley family were originally a small landowners, owning property situated in the area which is now Halifax, West Yorkshire. With close links to the nearby town of Dewsbury the earliest traceable ancestor of the Exley family is William of Dewsbury who was born around the year 1200 and died in the 1240's. It was the grandson of this man who began what would eventually become the name "Exley", instead naming himself "William de Ecclesley", a surname he shared with his 6 siblings. The mother of this man was Anne de Backhall, another land owner from the same region. We know that Anne was a member of a prominent family because her name is the only name of an Exley wife known until at least the 15th century. It is possibly through this marriage that the Exley family began to rise through the social ranks from lowly landowner to quite an important family. The name Ecclesley comes from the village of the same name, in which many of the early Exley family were born. Around 1335 however we get our first historical example of the name "exley" coming into use, and that is with John Exley (1335-1397). His birth is also recorded at a place called Exley, a hill overlooking Halifax with some farmland and easily defendable roadways. It is around this time that the Exley Homestead was built.The Elland Feud
In the early 1300's the Exley family took part in a local feud between the aristocracy of Southern and Western Yokshire. Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster had put to death a favourite courtier of Edward II in respnse to his wife's abduction. Anne de Laci (the Earls wife) was taken to Conisborough Castle and the Earl, alongside the Exleys and other notable noble families. During the siege an Exley killed the half-nephew of Sir John Elland, another land owner from the same region as the Exleys. The Exley family fled and took refuge with Sir Robert de Beaumont of Crosland Hall and gave the Ellands a parcel of land in compensation for the murder. Sir John Elland however lay in ambush and when the drawbridge was lowered to allow a servant girl to return home, killed Sir Robert Beaumont by decapitating him. With his band of men he sat in Crosland Hall and ordered a large meal, inviting Adam de Beaumont to join them, which she refused but was forced to watch. The Beaumont family fled their Hall for safety in Lancashire, returning later to murder Sir John Elland whilst their mother and several other anti-Elland men met to plot the murder of Elland's son and grandson. The Elland family was thus extinguished in the north and the land they owned, bordering on Exley property was inherited by their Saville relations. The Laci family dwindled in power and the Exley's grew stronger through their elimination of the Elland rivals.Later History
The Exley Family continued to have a great deal of influence on the events of Western Yorkshire, dominating the area around Halifax for many hundreds of years. However, in the early 1800's many of the Exleys moved south to London after the destruction of Exley Hall by fire. Those that stayed built Exley House in the 1840's lower down the hill that Exley stood on, leaving the ruin of Exley Hall to fall into disrepair where it still stands. Those that moved South to London congregated in Central and Eastern London. The earliest Exley to leave England however was Matthew Exley, who was transported to Australia in 1826 but managed to escape his sentence the same year. Other Exleys moved to America in the 1920's, during the boom years where they made a name for themselves in New York and Boston. Later in the 20th Century the Exley family began to migrate away from London and Yorkshire and over to Australia where there is now a large family. There wa sonly ever one Exley family, all descended from the same man, William of Dewsbury and no two blood Exleys are unrelated.Today
Today the Exley family are dispersed over 3 continents but the largest unit remains in Yorkshire, living on the same hill that their ancestors lived on and named over 750 years ago.Other names
For various reasons the name "Exley" has had many different spellings over the years, Ecclesley, Eckishley, Exley etc and there is a theory that the Exley family may be much greater than it was once conceived and that highly popular Yorkshire names such as Oxley may be derived from the name Exley. With this in mind the single Exley family could be an immense web of people from all different walks of life, dispersed over 4 continents in pockets of people all linked by a common ancestor in William of Dewsbury.
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