Home > Hollier Families
Unlike the less common Hollyer and Holyer name variants, there are a large number of families that used the Hollier spelling and many of these might be unrelated to one another. The main group of Holliers originated in North Warwickshire, probably at or near to the parish of Shustoke and spread to nearby Staffordshire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire. But much of this migration predates the start of parish registers, so the exact connection between these families cannot be proved precisely. Equally, it is not clear whether the Holliers in Shropshire, Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire were part of this pattern of migration or whether they arose separately.
The Hollier name is found across parts of Southern England as well, but it is more likely that these arose independently. One of the largest groups of Holliers, those in Somerset, seems to have emerged as late as the mid 18th century and there is no evidence where their ancestors came from. Although all the families listed below are described as Holliers, the way they were recorded in parish registers does vary and some families, such as those in Hampshire and Berkshire were often recorded as Hollyer. But the pattern is largely random and does not provide any conclusive evidence of what name spellings the individuals actually used.
Follow the links to view some summaries of the main family groups: