As mentioned in my previous post, I have a source that shows the counties & more specifically the Poor Law Unions (PLUs) with the highest frequencies of Bosleys as of the 1881 census. These locations are clues to the origins of the earliest Bosleys, since places with the highest frequencies of this surname in 1881 MAY reflect high frequencies hundreds of years earlier.
Here's the map showing PLUs with the highest frequencies of Bosleys:
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~thriftzzfr...It looks to me like the 3 hot spots for Bosleys (Berkshire, Herefordshire, & Somerset) may all be independent of each other, and also independent of Bosleys in Cheshire. DNA testing can prove whether or not this is true.
http://www.familytreedna.com/public/BosleyI've also posted maps for some similar-sounding surnames. It appears from the maps that there are probably some cases where these names may be variants of Bosley (or of each other), but in many cases it appears they may have different origins.
Data is here, by Poor Law Union
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~thriftzzfr...and by county
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~thriftzzfr...Maps are here:
Bosley
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~thriftzzfr...Basley
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~thriftzzfr...Bazley
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~thriftzzfr...Boseley
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~thriftzzfr...Bosely
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~thriftzzfr...Bossley
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~thriftzzfr...Richard Thrift
rtx at cox dot net