Colyer
Location: [unknown]
Surnames/tags: Colyer Coyler Collier
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About the Project
The Coyler Name Study project serves as a collaborative platform to collect information on the Coyler name. The hope is that other researchers like you will join the study to help make it a valuable reference point for other genealogists who are researching or have an interest in the Coyler name. The first dictionaries that appeared in the last few hundred years did much to standardize the English language. Before that time, spelling variations in names were a common occurrence. The language was changing, incorporating pieces of other languages, and the spelling of names changed with it. Colyer has been spelled many different ways, including Collier, Collyer, Colier, Colyer, Colyar, Colyear and many more.
- To add a sticker on a profile page, use the One Name Study sticker with an appropriate category:
This profile is part of the Coyler Name Study.
|category=Colliers, Coyler Name Study}}
The founding heritage of the Colyer family is in the Anglo-Saxon culture that once dominated in Britain. The name Colyer comes from when one of the family worked as a person who made or sold charcoal. The surname Colyer is derived from the Old English word col, which means coal; as such it is thought to have originally been an occupational name for a burner of charcoal or a gatherer or seller of coal. Early Origins of the Colyer family
As a One Name Study, this project is not limited to persons who are related biologically. Individual studies can be used to branch out the research into specific methods and areas of interest, such as geographically (England Coylers), by time period (18th Century Coylers), or by topic (Coyler DNA, Coyler Occupations, Coyler Statistics). These studies may also include a number of family branches which have no immediate link with each other. Some researchers may even be motivated to go beyond the profile identification and research stage to compile fully sourced, single-family histories of some of the families they discover through this name study project.
Also see the related surnames and surname variants.
How to Join
To join the Coyler Name Study, first start out by browsing our current research pages to see if there is a specific study ongoing that fits your interests. If so, feel free to add your name to the Membership list below, post an introduction comment on the specific team page, and then dive right in!
If a research page does not yet exist for your particular area of interest, please contact the Name Study Coordinator: Vacant for assistance.
- Once you are ready to go, you can also show your project affiliation with the ONS Member Sticker:... ... ... is a member of the Coyler Name Study Project.
Membership
- Lawrence Bailey, focus on Pennsylvania Colyers (see Village of Colyer).
- Dale Scott Wilson
- My family also spells their name Colyer. Until the late 1800’s the Collier spelling was changed to Colyer. In fact, there were 12 kids in my mom’s family. The first three born their name is spelled Collier on their birth certificates. The last nine are Colyer. I’m told the census changed it in our area.
- Liz Shifflett, focus on early Virginia Colliers/Collyers (see Virginia Colliers, 1600s-1700s).
Research Pages
Here are some of the current research pages included in the study.
- Coyler Village, Potter Twp. Centre County, PA. USA: The founding heritage of the Coyler family is in Anglo-Saxon culture that once dominated Britain. The name Coyler comes from when one of the family worked as a person who made coal. The surname is derived from the old English word "col" which means coal. It is though to have originally been an occupational name of or seller of coal. The Village of Colyer, Potter Township, Centre County, Pennsylvania, is a profusion of roads which loops quite confusing to strangers ( It was originally called the Loop) The name (Colyer) is the title of an area more than a town because Colyer is spread over considerable territory and it is difficult to pinpoint the town itself. The sawmill built by William Colyer and for many years the lumbering operation was the main source of employment in Potter Township.
Here are some non-WikiTree pages/sites that may help with your research.
Related Surnames and Surname Variants
- Coyller
- Colyer
- Collyer
- Collier
Memories: 1
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My Collier adventure has been a trip down one of those genealogical rabbit holes. What interested me, once I started learning about this family, was that in a few generations they (1) as fellow inhabitants of Southwark, probably knew William Shakespeare; (2) survived (most of them) repeated bubonic plague outbreaks; (3) endured the monarchs' vacillation between Catholicism and Church of England; (4) lived through the interregnum (Oliver Cromwell) period, when there was no monarch, and (5) must have been seriously affected by the Great Fire of London in 1666. All of this while maintaining membership in one of the great Livery Companies of London, the Worshipful Company of Grocers. As time goes on, I expect that more will be learned and added about this family because they were prominent citizens. But, long story shortened, my interest in the Colliers will wane once I get this large family group entered. I'll update my comment in a few days when I get my research write-up posted on a free-space page, and then see whether any Colliers want to join the effort of moving the family into WikiTree. Ray Watts PhD Thank you Ray:
As to origins of the Collier/Colyer name it's probably Angel-Saxon. Which would also explain a German/Swiss connection. Also there is an Anabaptist connection as far as early Pennsylvanians. Since often Quaker (English) and Amish (German/Swiss0 did intermarry especial in Central pennsylvania as was the case in my family.
It will involve considerable work to move this collection into WikiTree profiles, so I am looking for collaborators to help in that endeavor.
Cheers, Liz
Category:One Name Studies Project, Needs Coordinator
(and let Nat know).
Nat - I'll be marking the Category: Collier Name Study for deletion soon.
Cheers, Liz
Nat
Alternatively, there's already a space page for early Virginia Colliers - see https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Virginia_Colliers%2C_1600s-1700s So, instead of Category: Virginia Colliers, Coyler Name Study, we could create a companion category for that page - i.e., Category: Virginia Colliers, 1600s-1700s & it could be a subcategory of Category: Colyer Name Study
I think I like changing this page to Space: Coyler Name Study & retaining Category: Coyler Name Study while creating Category: Virginia Colliers, 1600s-1700s to support the Space page of the same name.
Let me know if you're ok with Space: Collier Name Study becoming Space Coyler Name Study & I'll take care of that bit. Then we can work with Nat on whatever changes are needed for the categories. My focus on Colliers is fairly narrow, looking at Colliers in Virginia prior to 1800 (I'm descended from Sarah Furgason, b 1818 in TN, whose mother was a Virginia Collier).
edited for clarity
In the meantime, I've created Category: Virginia Colliers, 1600s-1700s & included it under both Name Study categories (but it would probably be best under the proposed Category: Colliers, Coyler Name Study).
Cheers, Liz
But if you fear separating them because the name Colyer AND the name Collier are overlapping in a family line, then maybe it should remain. Let me know, and thanks for your answer.
Natalie
Is Colyer a variant name? If so, it should remain part of Collier Name Study. It is structured as a separate study, though, with its own category, which is not the way it should be. If it is a variant name, the category should be something like Category:Colyers, Collier Name Study]].
Let me know the way it should be and I will initiate the changes.
Thanks, Natalie, ONS Leader
I think that Coyler should be a separate Name Study rather than treated as a variant of Collier. Neither Coyler nor Pennsylvania is found at https://www.collierheritage.org
Are you ok with that?
Cheers, Liz
Welcome to the updated Collier Heritage Foundation website! Look around and let us know how you like some of the new features. Weve added Regions for those doing genealogical work in specific areas and a restricted (requiring membership) DNA category.
Responding to an inquiry about Leah Campbell Colyer to Great-Grand Son Lawrence Bailey