This name, with variant spellings Livesey, Livesay, Livesley, and Livz(l)ey, is of English locational origin from a place in Lancashire called Livesey. Recorded as Liveseye in the 1227 Fine Court Rolls of that county and as Liveshey in the 1243 Pipe Rolls of Lancashire, the name derives from the Olde Norse "hilf" meaning shelter or protection, plus the Olde Norse "ey" an island, hence "island with a shelter". The surname this source is first recorded in the early half of the 14th Century, (see below). In 1578 William Sherlocke and Ellen Livesey were married in London. On April 27th 1623 William, son of John Lievesley, was christened in Walton on the Hill, Lancashire, and on August 28th 1679 Ellen Lievesley and Cuthbert Sharples were married in St. Nicholas, Liverpool. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Adam de Livesay, which was dated 1332, in the "Pipe Rolls of Lancashire", during the reign of King Edward 111, known as "The Father of the Navy", 1327 - 1377. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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