The Saxon Chronicle is a manuscript which was painstakingly researched by monks of the 10th century and now dwells in the British Museum. Emerging through the Chronicles of history is one of the oldest family names, Tetlow and the distinguished history of this surname is interwoven into the tapestry of the history of England.

Historical analysts have used many sources in the preparation of your history such as the Domesday Book, the Ragman Rolls (1291-1296), the Curia Regis Rolls, the Pipe Rolls, the Hearth Rolls, parish registers, baptismals, tax records and other ancient documents and found the first record of the name Tetlow, in Shropshire where they were seated from very ancient times, before and after the Norman Conquest of 1066.

The surname Tetlow, was found in the archives, the name was sometimes revealed as Tetley, Tetlow, Tetlaw, Titley, and these changes in spelling occurred even between father and son. It was not uncommon, for example, for a person to be born with one spelling variation, married with another, and for yet another to appear on his gravestone. Scribes spelt the name the way it sounded as it was told to them. From century to century spellings changed.

The family name Tetlow was found to be descended from the Saxon race. The Saxons were a fair skinned people led by the brothers General/Commanders Hengist and Horsa, who settled in England from about the year 400 A.D. They settled firstly on the south east coast, coming from the Rhine Valley. They spread north and westward from Kent and during the next four hundred years forced the Ancient Britons back into Wales and Cornwall to the west, Cumbria and Scotland to the north. The Angles held the eastern coastline, the south folk in Suffolk, the north folk in Norfolk. Under Anglo/Saxon five century rule the nation divided into five separate kingdoms, a high king being elected as supreme ruler. Alfred the Great emerged in the 9th century as the Saxon leader to dispel the Danish invasion.

England, by 1066, was ably led by Harold, King of the Saxons and was enjoying reasonable peace and prosperity. The Norman invasion from France under Duke William of Normandy, and their victory at the Battle of Hastings, found Saxon land owners to be forfeited their land. William, with an army of 40,000, drove north, wasting the northern counties. Both rebellious Norman nobles and Saxons fled over the border into Scotland. Those Saxons who remained were restive under Norman rule, and many moved northward to the midlands, Lancashire and Yorkshire where Norman influence prevailed less.

The family name Tetlow emerged as a notable English family name in the county of Shropshire, where they were Lords of the manor of Titley. They branched to Wore in that same shire. Later they branched north into Lancashire where the name generally changed to Tetlow and Tetlaw, but the Coat of Arms remained the same. In Lancashire they were seated at Alkrington Hall and Barton Lodge in Eccles. They also branched to Oldham in Lancashire, and to Houghton in that shire, as well as to Lynn in the county of Norfolk. Much of the Lancashire estates were lost by marriage to the distinguished families of Lancashire and Scholes. Notable amongst the family at this time was Tetley of Shropshire.

The next two or three centuries found the surname Tetlow flourishing and contributing greatly to the culture of the nation. During the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries England was ravaged by religious conflict. Protestantism, the newly found political fervour of Cromwellianism, and the remnants of the Roman Church rejected all but the most ardent followers. As each group gained power during these turbulent times many were burnt at the stake and many more were banished from the land, losing their titles, estates and status. Many families were freely "encouraged" to migrate to Ireland, or to the "colonies". Some were rewarded with grants of lands, and others were indentured as servants for as long as ten years.

In Ireland they became known as the "Adventurers for land in Ireland". They were government sponsored Protestant settlers who "undertook" to keep their faith, being granted lands previously owned by the Catholic Irish for only nominal payment. They were also known as the "Undertakers". There is no evidence that the family name migrated to Ireland, but this does not preclude the possibility of their scattered migration to that country.

These unsettling times were disturbing and the New World beckoned the adventurous. They migrated, some voluntarily from Ireland, some by Army service, but mostly directly from England, their home territories. Some also moved to the European continent. Members of the family name Tetlow sailed aboard the armada of small sailing ships known as the "White Sails" which plied the stormy Atlantic. These overcrowded ships were pestilence ridden, sometimes 30% to 40% of the passenger list never reaching their destination, their numbers decimated by sickness and the elements. Many were buried at sea.

Included amongst the first migrants who settled in North America which could be considered a kinsman of the surname Tetlow, or a variable spelling of that family name was Nicholas Tetlow settled in Virginia in 1635; James, John, Thomas and William Tetlow arrived in Philadelphia between 1860 and 1880.

The east coast ports were crowded. From the port of entry many settlers trekked their way west, joining the wagon trains to the prairies or to the west coast. During the American War of Independence, many loyalists made their way north to Canada about 1790, and became known as the United Empire Loyalists. They were granted equivalent lands along the banks of the St. Lawrence River and in the Niagara Peninsula. Contempory notables of the surname Tetlow, include many distinguished contributors Sir Herbert Tetley, Government Actuary; Albert Tetley of Leeds; Judge Kenneth Tetley, Recorder.

During the course of our research we also determined the many Coat of Arms granted to different branches of the family name. The most ancient grant of a Coat of Arms was:

The Crest was:

The ancient family Motto for this distinguished name was: