Tracing the Burghley Family Name

A Burghley ancestor may well appear as Burleigh in earlier records. Surname dictionaries give the meaning as “Clearing by a fort”.

Before spelling was fixed, Burleigh was also written Burghley. Spellings drifted because names were written down by ear in parish books, tax rolls and passenger lists.

Similar-sounding surnames on Herald Lab: Burley.

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