Gravely / Gravlee / Gravley / Graveley / Graveli and other spellings have been found The Gravely surname was first found in Hertfordshire where the family held a seat as Lords of the Manor. After the Battle of Hastings in 1066, William, Duke of Normandy, having prevailed over King Harold, granted most of Britain to his many victorious Barons. It was not uncommon to find a Baron, or a Bishop, with 60 or more Lordships scattered throughout the country. These he gave to his sons, nephews and other junior lines of his family and they became known as under-tenants. They adopted the Norman system of surnames which identified the under-tenant with his holdings so as to distinguish him from the senior stem of the family. After many rebellious wars between his Barons, King William the Conqueror commissioned a census in 1086 to be taken in England to determine once and for all who held which land. He called the census the Domesday Book, indicating that those holders registered would hold the land until the end of time. Hence, conjecturally, the surname is descended from the tenants of the lands of Graveley which were held by five Norman nobles, the Bishop of Bayeux, Robert Gernon, William d'Eu, Gosbert de Beauvais and Peter de Valognes who were recorded in the Domesday Book census of 1086. Their under-tenants were Peter, Adam and Godfrey. There is now a 17th century farmhouse on the site. Some of the Gravely family came to America during the early 1700's. There were at least three brothers, Joseph, James Jr. and John who were possibly descendants of James Gravly/Gravilet from Amelia County, VA. Joseph was a Revolutionary War Soldier and he and John lived on Leatherwood Creek in Henry County, Virginia. Joseph and many of his descendants remained in Virginia. After the Revolutionary War John married Margaret "Peggy" Ballenger, the daughter of Patriot Joseph Ballenger, and moved to Pickens, South Carolina where many descendants continue to live. James Gravely Jr. lived in Pittsylvania, VA, but his descendants moved to Gordan County, Georgia. Hopefully yDNA testing will eventually support the family tradition that our ancestors were from Graveley, Hertfordshire, England. The village of Graveley is located on the Roman Road and was in the 1086 Great Survey (Doomsday Book) ordered by William the Conqueror. Several descendants of the Gravely's have visited St. Mary's Church (Watton-at-Stone) located near Hertfordshire, England. Inside this church is the grave of Sir Robert de Gravelley who died in 1311. (https://www.findagrave.com). No documentation has been found at this time to link our family to this Knight, but it has been passed down for generations that he was one of our ancestors.