Wyclife History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The surname Wyclife was first found in Yorkshire where the surname is descended from the tenant of the lands of Wycliffe, held by Count Alan, who was recorded in the Domesday Book census of 1086.

Wycliffe is a "parish, in the union of Teesdale, wapentake of Gilling-West in the North Riding of Yorkshire. The church, which was rebuilt in the reign of Edward III., is a handsome structure in the decorated English style, with a square embattled tower crowned by pinnacles. In the rectoryhouse is a well-executed portrait of Wycliffe by Sir Antonio Moore, presented by Dr. Zouch, a late rector of the parish, to be preserved as an heir-loom by his successors in the living: the reformer was born in or near this place." 2

John Wycliffe (d. 1384), the religious reformer and theologian, was born in Yorkshire, but the exact location has been under speculation for many years. 3

One source claims the family was originally "were descended from a younger son of Enisand Musard of Bretagne, who obtained from his father Clesebv, near Richmond, part of his demesne in 1086 4. Witcliflfe (Wycliffe), Torp, and Gerlington were granted to the family by Alan, Earl of Richmond, by the service of one knight. In the following reign Cleseby, or Cleasby, passed to a younger branch, which assumed the name. Wycliffe passed to Robert de Wycliffe, who witnessed a charter of the Earl of Richmond in 1278. Roger de Wycliffe, his son, was living 1319, and was father of William Wycliffe, who married a daughter of Sir Robert Bellasis. John Wycliffe, the reformer, was a brother or first cousin of the latter, as the name of Wycliffe had not been borne in the family for more than two generations." 5

Later the Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379 included the following entries: Johanna de Wyclayf; Willelmus Whyttloffe; and Johannes Wytloffe. Bardsley presumes "these will probably be immediate relatives of the Reformer. " 1