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The Hogley, Ogley & Ogeley Page

My Hogley Heritage

Joseph Hogley 1815/6-1893 m. Mary Jane Hartley

Stephen Enoch Hogley 1842-1927 m. Mary Jane Farrand

John Bernard Hogley 1873-1927 m.Sarah Ann Sandford

Marian Hogley 1900-1928 m.Herbert Woodford Orton

Francis John Orton m. Helen Tew

Paul Nicholas Orton 1963-

Introduction
Origins of the Name
The Hogley and Ogley Database
Geographical Distribution
Name Variants
Famous Hogleys and Ogleys

Introduction: As the grandson of Marian Hogley I have always had an interest in the Hogley name, although it is only recently that I have been doing anything about it. You can see from my family history page that I have been looking at the Hogley family. I was stuck for some time on John Hogley (Joseph's father), and my search for John's birthplace led me to look at various other branches of the Hogley family. The first thing that became clear is that the names Hogley and Ogley were very often confused, usually dependent on the chosen spelling of the parish clerk. It is only relatively recently that either one form or the other was chosen. There are numerous examples of the surname being written both ways for the same person on different occasions.

I had a recent major breakthrough after receiving a copy of John Hogley's marriage licence of 1813. This gave me sufficient information to be reasonably sure that he was baptised in Kellington (near Pontefract) in 1784, the son of Martin Hogley (1748, Kellington) and Ann Green. This Martin was the son of another Martin (1701, Darrington), who was the son of another Martin.  

Whenever I have looked in books such as the 'Dictionary of British Surnames' the names Hogley and Ogley are not included. My great-aunt Esther Booth (nee Hogley) did some research into the name, and I use her notes here extensively. Bear in mind that she was concentrating on the Hogleys of the Huddersfield area: There is a small settlement, a farm and a group of old stone houses high in the Holme Valley, named Hogley (see the Yorkshire Dictionary). It is shown on very old maps. One map dated 1775 spells the name Hogley, an ancient map said to have been made in the reign of Henry V spells it Ogley. Hogley (the name has fallen into disuse in recent times, but was previously mentioned frequently) is a hamlet in the township of Austonley, and parish of Almondbury, 7 miles from Huddersfield and a mile or two above Holmfirth. Hogley is near Burnlee and Booth-house, and was probably a Norse settlement. This hamlet cannot have been connected with the Hogley surname, as there do not seem to have been any Hogleys or Ogleys in the area before 1813, apart from those mentioned below.

Besides being in the Parish of Almondbury, Hogley in Austonley was in the old Manor of Wakefield and its inhabitants had to go to the Court at Wakefield for any matter involving the law (including transfers of land, etc). Huddersfield Library has copies of the Court Rolls and here Esther found the following entries.

Wakefield Court Rolls 1348-50 (second series Vol II), Yorks Arch. Society
p238 Adam de Hogley, Holme 29 April 1350
p239 Joan wife of John son of John de Hogley licensed to marry John de Hirst
Alice wife of John de Hogley to marry
p229 Marjory daughter of Richarde de Hogley re sale of 12 acres in Austonley.

In all these cases 'Hogley' is used as a place name, particularly of the Hogley hamlet. The place name may have developed into a surname but there seems to be no evidence to support the theory that the surname Hogley originated from the hamlet in Austonley.

There was another settlement of this name in the township of Almondbury, it is still there; not far from Castle Hill. Again, Esther found no evidence of anyone named Hogley living there. In 1780 the inhabitant was called Kaye. A survey of Almondbury was made in 1584 on the order of Queen Elizabeth. A copy is in the library in the Ramsden Estate papers, this is the entry on p33 THOMAS APPLEYARD holdeth by Court Roll one messuage called HOGLEYE and three closes thereunto belonging, containing by estimation three acres and payeth by the year 12d. (copyhold tenants of the Manor). It was perhaps one of a group of farms referred to as "the Castle Houses".  For the same reasons as Hogley in Austonley, this cannot be the origin of the surname either.

I am trying to locate the origin of the surname, particularly with reference to other hamlets named Hogley or Ogley.

With contributions from others, particularly Ruth Powell, who is researching the Ogley/Ogeleys of Worcester, I have been building up various items of use to researchers of the above names. All I ask is that you share with me any information you have:

The Database.  I have built up an extensive database of every Hogley and Ogley event in the IGI, the indexes of Births, Deaths and Marriages, plus any other events that I come across, particularly from Parish Registers and Record Offices. It includes all of the IGI, and all from the BMD index up to 1899.  At the last count there were 2,500 entries, but it is growing all the time.

The database is held as an Excel spreadsheet, but I can send it on request in most formats- just email me using the link below, and tell me what format would suit you best.  Zipped it is about 300kb- uncompressed it is a whopping 1.2 megabytes.

I would like to receive details of any Hogley/Ogley happenings you know of, ideally using the following format:

Certificates, Wills, etc..  I hold the collection of Birth, Death & Marriage Certificates; plus Wills, Administrations and Inventories; and copies of Baptism, Burial and Marriage entries from Parish Registers for Hogley/Ogley/Ogeley.

Census Data.  I have also been building up a spreadsheet containing any Census information I have come across to do with the name. 

There are only a small number of Hogleys and Ogleys around. The IGI only lists something like 750 Hogley and Ogley events up to the middle of the last Century; all except 100 being from Yorkshire. These events are mostly christenings and marriages.

Geographically Hogley/Ogley events are distributed in the database as follows (as at Dec 1997):

The areas above are loosely based on Registration Districts, but are completely arbitrary. Although I have concentrated on some areas more than others, thus distorting the figures slightly, they do still give a good indication of the spread of the two names.

I am trying to come to terms with the difference between 'Hogley' and 'Ogley'. Clearly at times the names have been confused, but some areas are predominantly one or the other. The areas around Barnsley, Sheffield and Rotherham are mostly Ogleys; Doncaster and Pontefract are fairly equal, whereas Goole and the North-West areas of the West Riding are predominantly Hogleys. Huddersfield is strongly Hogley because everybody is descended from John Hogley of the Pontefract area.

Although I have divided the names in the database into Hogley and Ogley, there are actually many variations on the name that have been included. Not all will have anything to do with the name, but I have included them anyway. The numbers in brackets give the frequencies as of November 1997.

Hogley Variants: Hadgeley (1), Hogeley (1), Hogelsly (1), Hegley (8), Hoggla (1), Hoggle (1), Hoggley (5), Hoghley (3), Hogla (1), Hoglaee (1), Hoglah (6), Hoglai (1), Hoglaie (3), Hoglay (33), Hogleye (7), Hoglie (6), Hogliggen (1), Hoglo (1), Hoglow (1), Hogly (15), Hoglye (1), Hougley (2)

Ogley Variants: Oakley, Ockley (1), Ogeley (36), Oggly (5), Ogiley (2), Ogilley (2), Ogiloy (4), Ogily (2), Ogle (2), Oglie (1), Ougley (2), Ogly (1)

Worcestershire
There are very few examples of Hogleys and Ogleys outside the counties adjacent to Yorkshire, except in Worcestershire, where Ogeley is most common, followed by Ogley and Ogle. It seems that Michael Ogley/Hogly (son of Godfrey Ogley) and Mary Howel, who were married in Sheffield Cathedral in 1769, moved to the Parish of St Peter, Worcester. The family name seems to have changed to Ogeley, then transmutated into the local name Oakley.

My g-g grandfather was Stephen Enoch Hogley (1842-1927), a well-known Holmfirth painter. Unfortunately his skills do not seem to have been passed down to me. Born in Almondbury but moved after his marriage in 1867 to Holmfirth, he painted many pictures, predominantly landscapes showing highland cattle. My Stephen Enoch Hogley page (see link above) gives details of his life, with photos of his work.