72 



Notes to tt)c petrtgrec of t{)t Strellegs of 



Compiled by Rev. Chas. Kerry. 



HERE are but few families whose names figure more 

 prominently in the history of Notts, and Derbyshire 

 than the ''Knightly" family of the Strelleys, now 

 represented by Richard Charles Strelley, Esq., of 

 Oakerthorpe, and no task has ever been more congenial to the 

 editor of this Journal than the compilation and illustration of 

 this pedigree, which certainly is one of the most authentic in 

 the county of Derby. It takes its rank amongst the very first in 

 antiquity, and evinces an ancient prestige almost unrivalled by 

 any other family in the county. It is one of the very few 

 remaining which, like the Curzons, Stanhopes, Byrons, Okeovers, 

 Meynells, and Cockaynes, has maintained its patronymic for more 

 than 750 years, in spite of the vicissitudes of fortune, and through 

 at least four and twenty generations. 



The Strelleys appear to have been the original owners of the 

 place from which they derived their name, a parish about five 

 miles north-west of Nottingham. The name signifies the " Lea," 

 or meadow of the "Strad," " Strat," or " Street " — some ancient 

 road (British or Roman) which once passed through the district ; 

 and it is very probable that the Strelleys became tenants in fee 

 to the Peverells at the Norman Conquest — tenants of those lands 

 which they had probably long possessed ere the Norman set foot 

 on these shores. 



Note. — The figures at the commencement of each of the 

 following sections refer to the numbers attached to the names in 

 accompanying pedigree. 



