PAUL 1 TURLEY-52 HAD A PLANTATION ON JONNYMORE CREEK. NEAR BROTHER JOHN TURLEY. The earliest TURLEY'S that can be traced to our family are listed in records of FAIRFAX CO., VIRGINA. Land patents 1666-1695 claim land in the Lower James River area. There were Turleys in Maryland before the Turleys in Virginia but it is not known if they are related or not. The first document naming a TURLEY is one that names ANN TURLEY who received 300 acresin a will from JOHN WEST. ANN may have been the daughter of his wife ELIZABETH who may have been married to a TURLEY before JOHN WEST. WEST and the five TURLEYmen including PAUL'S brothers and a nephew were neighbors near HUNTING RUN, near the present site of the Woodrow Wilson bridge. Quite a distance north of the Lower James river where it is documented that four immigrants named TURLEY received land. These immigrants were Jone, Jno., Georg, Fra. Turley. More Turley's were mentioned in the book "The Turley Family Records" which is where this information comes from. It was originally compiled by a Beth Mitchell and others in 1981. The book has a Library of Congress Catalog Card number 80-54409 and the secretary of the association is Ruth T. Collins, 7326 Rebecca Dr., Alexandria, VA. 22307.
We thought the Turley name was Irish but now believe the Turley surname is of English Origin.
1) The Turley Coat of Arms is recorded in Rietstap Armorial General (The Coat of Arms is English) & Turley is a place in Wiltshire, England
2)Turley can be found in the book entitled "Family Names & Their Stories" by S. Baring-Gould, MA. Turley is listed on William the Conqueror's "The Roll of Battle Abbey." Turley derives from Torlai which indicates the Turley surname is of Norman Origin.
3) Turley can be found in the penguin Dictionary of Surnames by Basil Cottle; Turley is Old English in Origin.
4) Turley can be found in "The Battle Abbey Roll with Some account of Norman Lineages by the Dutchess of Cleveland. Again Turley is listed on the Battle Abbey Roll as well as Census records in 1272, 1397 p.406.
5) Turley is also found in a book entitled "My Ancestors Came with the Conqueror" by Anthony J. Camp.
6) There are a number of Turleys that strongly identify with the Irish. However, the books on Irish surnames seem to always link the surname "Turley" with Curley, Terry & the Gaelic name "MacToirdealbaigh." The surnames Curley and Terry are generally associated with Irish provinces with the exeception of the Ulster Province. The surname Turley, as far as Ireland is concerned is associated with Counties Armagh and Down; see the Irish surname book by Mr. MacLysaught. Between 1641 and the early 1800's the turley surname can be found in small towns between Lisburn (outside of belfast and Newry County Down; with the largest concentration in Newry. The Turley surname in Ulster can be found in all religious denominations; mostly Church of Ireland, followed by Presbyterian and Roman Catholic. Keep in mind that Protestant does not always = English or Scottish and Roman Catholic does not always = Irish; Roman Catholicism is the second largest denomination in England. Also keep in mind that some of the most prominent individuals opposed to British rule in the American colonies and Ireland were of English Origin. (I'm sure some of you who read this message will immediately point out to me the name of a Turley associated with the IRA in the 1930's. I'm covering the bases.) the Anglican Christ's Church in Lisburn in 1641. Lisburn in County Antrim was one of the first English settlements in Ulster. Source: LDS Records) 6) Most American Turley Genealogies appear to follow the pattern of American genealogies with English and Scotch-Irish origins. (Census Records and published genealogies; eg. Theodore Turley Genealogy, The Compendium of American Genealogy, The Scoth-Irish by Charles Hanna.
7) Today most Turley household are in the United States (Approximately 10,000, Great Britain is second with approximately 2,000, Northern Ireland with 250 and Ireland with less than 100.)