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Harley
is a surname derived from a place name meaning "open place
of the hares" where hare is from the Old English hara
= hare and lea, also Old English, (alternative spellings
ley and lay) = a meadow, field or open pasture. So,
someone with the surname Harley would have been someone who
lived at, or near, somewhere particularly noted for its hares.
Since
hares are common in the UK (and, unlike the rabbit, which was
introduced as food by the Normans) an indigenous species, "hare
leys" (and Harefields) are a commonly used descriptive term.
It is therefore not surprising that the Harley surname has arisen
independently in several widely separated areas:
- In
England :
- Yorkshire
- Shropshire
- Gloucestershire
- Sussex
- In Scotland
- Around the Firth of Forth
Later adoptions
of the Harley name may well be associated with the noble families
of that name - it is first recorded in pre-Conquest documents
as "de Harley" and the first Earl of Oxford was Robert
Harley - and workers associated with the family estates would
sometimes have been known as "of Harley" (or de Harley) soon
dropping the of / de designation.
The
"Harley Coat of Arms"
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First of all
I must point out that there is no such thing as a "Harley
Coat of Arms." Coats of Arms belong only to the person
they were originally granted to and their direct descendants
in the male line. They originated from the custom of embroidering
the emblem of a knight on the surcoat which he wore over
his armour.
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It was (and still is) usual
to "difference" a coat of arms for individuals
within this direct line and for coats of arms to be combined
on marriage. The later the coat of arms, the more complex
it becomes.
The crest (often used erroneously
to mean coat-of-arms) is the distinguishing device on
top of the helm, in heraldry much stylised but in former
times a very practical means, along with the embroidered
surcoat, of identifying a knight whose face was hidden
by his armour.
The design
above is the simplest and most basic Harley arms (probably
the earliest form), featuring a shield "or (gold)
, a bend (diagonal line) cotised (with a narrower
line on each side) sable (black) "
and the crest "a castle
triple towered argent(silver), out of the middle
tower a demi (half) lion issuant(coming out)."
Strictly speaking,
the shield in a coat of arms is for the male line only;
ladies, who did not bear arms, display their emblems on
a lozenge (diamond shape) instead.
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